ANCIENT-RO/AB 


RECEN  .....  r-  EXCAVATIONS' 
BY-ROD  OLPO-LANCIANI 


BRONZE  STATUE  OF  A  BOXER. 

Discovered  in  Rome,  188$. 

See  Chapter  XI. 


ANCIENT  ROME 


IN  THE   LIGHT  OF  RECENT  DISCOVERIES 


BY 


RODOLFO   LANCIANI 

LL.D.  (HARV.);  r.  R.  A.S.  ;  PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ROME,  ETC. 


WITH  ONE  HUNDRED  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BOSTON   AND  NEW   YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND    COMPANY 

sifcr  prrs's, 
1891 


Copyright,  1888, 
BY  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLUJ  &  CO. 

All  rights  reserved. 


SEVENTH    EDITION. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  V.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Company. 


JNE  GETTY  CfNTf, 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES    ......      1 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  FOUNDATION  AND  PREHISTORIC  LIFE  OF  ROME      ....     26 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE  SANITARY  CONDITION  OF  ANCIENT  ROME 49 

CHAPTER  IV. 
PUBLIC  PLACES  OF  RESORT 74 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  PALACE  OF  THE  C^ISARS 106 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VESTALS 134 

CHAPTER  VTI. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES  OF  ANCIENT  AND  MEDIEVAL  ROME    .  178 


iv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANCIENT  ROME      .    .  206 

CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  TIBER  AND  THE  CLAUDIAN  HARBOR 231 

CHAPTER  X. 
THE  CAMPAGNA 259 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  WORKS  OF  ART,  AND  THEIR  DISCOVERY 
IN  RECENT  YEARS  .  284 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FULL-PAGE  PLATES. 

PAGE 

BRONZE  STATUE  OF  A  BOXER.     (Heliotype)    .        .    Frontispiece 

ROME  IN  THE  XIVTH  CENTURY 6^ 

THE  FORUM  IN  THE  XVlTH  CENTURY 18  ^ 

THE  CAPITOL  IN  THE  XVlTH  CENTURY     .         .        .        .  22  / 

DETAILS  OF  THE  PANTHEON 24^ 

MAP  OF  THE  LAKE  OF  ALBANO 30  v 

SlTE    OF  THE   PORTA    ROMANA 38  ^ 

THE  BOCCA  BELLA  VERITA 56  v/ 

ARCHES  OF  THE  CLAUDIAN  AND  ANIO  Novus  AQUEDUCTS      .  58  J 

THE  FORUM,  LOOKING  WEST.     (Heliotype)         .        .        .  74 

PLAN  OF  THE  CURIA  IN  THE  XVlTH  CENTURY      .        .        .  80  ^ 

THE  FORUM,  LOOKING  EAST.     (Heliotype)         .        .        .  82  ^ 
REMAINS  OF    THE  FORUM  OF  AUGUSTUS  AND  THE  TEMPLE  OF 

MARS  ULTOR 84^ 

THE  FRIGIDARIUM  OF  THE  BATHS  OF  CARACALLA         .        .  90  v 

THE  BATHS  OF  CARACALLA 94^ 

PLAN  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  CAESARS           ....  106  \> 

RUINS  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  TIBERIUS.     (Heliotype)    .        .        .  108V 

SUBSTRUCTIONS  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  CALIGULA        .        .        .  116  vJ 

CARICATURE  OF  THE  CRUCIFIXION      .        .        .        .        .        .  122  ^ 

RUINS  OF  THE  FLAVIAN  PALACE.     (Heliotype)       .        .        .  124^ 

THE  SEPTIZONTUM  IN  THE  XVlTH  CENTURY              *.  126  v 

THE  ATRIUM  VEST.E,  LOOKING  EAST.     (Heliotype)         .        .  134  v 

PORTRAIT  OF  A  VESTALIS  MAXIMA.     (Heliotype)       .        .         .  138  \J 


vi  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PLAN  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VESTALS 158 

THE  ATRIUM  VEST.S:,  LOOKING  WEST.     (Heliotype)  .        .  160 

V  SPECIMEN  OF  PAPYRUS 184 

\J  MOSAIC  SHOWING  THE  ClRCUS  GAMES 214 

EXCUBITORIUM  OF  THE  SEVENTH  BATTALION  OF  POLICE  230 

OF  THE  RUINS  OF  PORTO 244 

v  BAS-RELIEF  SHOWING  THE  CLAUDIAN  HARBOR       .        .        .  246  - 

-SJTHE  WAREHOUSES  AT  OSTIA 248 

^REMAINS  OF  A  TRIUMPHAL  ARCH 256 

VJTHE  APPIAN  WAY 260 

V/THE  PINE  CONE  AND  THE  PEACOCKS,  VATICAN  GARDENS      .  286 

,j  BRONZE  STATUE  OF  AN  ATHLETE.     (Heliotype)         .        .        .  302 

\f  BRONZE  STATUE  OF  BACCHUS.     (Heliotype)    ....  308 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  CRESCENTIUS 17 

THE  WOLF  IN  THE  XViH  CENTURY 21 

CASTEL  GANDOLFO  AND  THE  ALBAN  HILLS    ....  27 

SECTION  OF  TRENCH 28 

HUT-URN,  IN  THE  VATICAN  MUSEUM 29 

MARBLE  ALTAR  FOUND  AT  OSTIA      ......  35 

REMAINS  OF  THE  SUBLICIAN  BRIDGE 41 

ALTAR  DEDICATED  TO  VERMINUS 52 

THE  CLOACA  MAXIMA 54 

MOUTH  OF  THE  CLOACA  OF  THE  CIRCUS  MAXIMUS    ...  55 

JUNCTION  OF  THE  FIVE  GREAT  AQUEDUCTS    ....  63 

THE  CURIA  IN  THE  XVTTH  CENTURY 78 

THE  CURIA  IN  ITS  PRESENT  CONDITION         ....  79 

COLUMN  AND  FORUM  OF  TRAJAN 88 

REMAINS  OF  THE  PORTICO  OF  OCTAVIA  .....    95,  96 

RUINS  IN  THE  GARDEN  OF  SALLUST         ....      101,  103 

REMAINS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  GERMANICUS  .....  109 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT.  vii 

SECTION  OK  FRIEZE  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  OF  APOLLO  .        .        .  114 

CORRIDOR  IN  WHICH  CALIGULA  WAS  MURDERED     .        .        .  117 

THE  DOMUS  GELOTIANA 119 

MEDALLION  SHOWING  THE  Six  VESTALS 137 

STATUE  OF  FLA  VIA  PUBLICIA 141 

PLAN  OF  THE  PORTA  COLLINA       ......  145 

FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SHRINE,  COURT  OF  THE  VESTALS      .        .149 

THE  TEMPLE  OF  VESTA,  RESTORED 159 

CAPITAL  FROM  THE  TEMPLE  OF  VESTA 160 

MOSAIC  DISCOVERED  AT  POMPEH 165 

THE  SYMBOLIC  GROTTO  OF  MITHRAS 166 

MITHRAS  CAUTES 167 

MlTHRAS-SUN 168 

STATUE  OF  PRETEXT ATUS 170 

SCROLLS,  WRITING  UTENSILS  AND  BOOKCASE     ....  181 

A  PRIVATE  CHAPEL 191 

CRYPT  OF  MITHRAS 192 

MITHRAS  TAUROKTONOS 193 

THE  VATICAN  LIBRARY 195 

CHURCH  AND  HOUSE  OF  S.  GREGORY 197 

INSCRIPTION 200 

REMAINS  OF  THE  TURRIS  CATULARIA 203 

THE  CLIVUS  ARICINUS 209 

INSCRIPTION  FROM  THE  PEDESTAL  OF  THE  JOCKEY  CRESCENS  215 

POCKET-KNIFE  OF  EUPREPES 216 

UPPER  PART  OF  THE  COLISEUM 220 

ENTRANCE  TO  THE  VILLA  MATTEI 227 

RELIEF  ON  SARCOPHAGUS,  SHOWING  THE  CLAUDIAN  HARBOR  239 

MEDALLION  SHOWING  THE  HARBOR  OF  TRAJAN      .        .        .  240 

LARGEST  BLOCK  OF  MARBLE  IN  ROME 241 

MEDALLION  OF  CLAUDIUS 246 

MOORING  RINGS  ON  THE  TIBER 247 

RUINS  OF  THE  HORREA  GALBANA 249 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT. 

MONTE  TESTACCIO      .        .        .        .        •.     '  ,V     .        .         .  250 

HANDLE  OF  AN  AMPHORA      .        . , 251 

AMPHORA  FROM  THE  MONTE  TESTACCIO    .'....  254 

THE  NTMPH^IUM  IN  HADRIAN'S  VILLA          ....  263 

THE  MAIN  PORTION  OF  HADRIAN'S  VILLA        ....  271 

THE  TORRE  FISCALE 277 

THE  CASINO  DEL  LIGORIO 279 

THE  MASTAI  HERCULES 288 

INSCRIPTION 295 

THE  TEMPLE  OF  THE  SUN  EST  THE  XVIra  CENTURY     .        .  302 

SITE  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  SITTING  BOXER       .        .        .  305 

BRIDGE  BUILT  BY  Lucius  CESTIUS          .....  309 


PREFACE. 


VERY  few  persons  who  have  not  seen  Italy  and  its  cap- 
ital since  1870  are  acquainted  with  the  revolution  which  is 
being  accomplished  in  Rome  in  the  department  of  public 
works.  From  the  official  statistics  which  have  been  kindly 
supplied  to  me,  it  appears  that  between  January  1,  1872, 
and  December  31,  1885,  82  miles  of  new  streets  have  been 
opened,  paved,  drained,  and  built ;  new  quarters  have 
sprung  up  which  cover  an  area  of  1,158  acres ;  3,094  houses 
have  been  built  or  enlarged,  with  an  addition  of  95,260 
rooms ;  135  million  lire  (27  million  dollars)  have  been 
spent  in  works  of  public  utility  and  general  improvement ; 
and  the  population,  which  fourteen  years  ago  numbered 
244,000  souls,  exceeds  now  the  considerable  figure  of 
379,000. 

I  have  not  quoted  these  statistics  with  the  desire  to  create 
a  sensation  amongst  those  who  still  believe  Rome  to  be  the 
"  city  of  death,"  and  Italy  a  "  mere  geographical  expres- 
sion." I  quote  them  simply  on  account  of  their  connection 
with  the  progress  of  Roman  archaeology,  because,  since  it 
is  impossible^  to  turn  up  in  Rome  a  handful  of  earth  with- 
out coming  upon  some  unexpected  find,  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand what  an  amount  of  discoveries  must  have  been  made 
by  turning  up  two  hundred  and  seventy  million  cubic  feet 
of  that  land  of  promise. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  exact  number  of 
works  of  art  and  of  antiquities  brought  to  light  by  the  gov- 


X'  PREFACE. 

eminent  in  the  official  excavations  of  the  Forum,  of  the 
palace  of  the  Caesars,  of  the  baths,  etc.,  or  by  private  indi- 
viduals in  building  their  houses.  However,  as  regards  the 
municipality  of  Rome,  which  owns  about  one  third  of  the 
ground  within  the  walls,  and  of  whose  antiquarian  wealth 
I  am,  in  a  certain  way,  the  happy  treasurer,  the  following 
works  and  objects  have  been  stored  in  the  Capitol  since 
1872 :  705  amphorae  with  important  inscriptions ;  2,360 
terra  cotta  lamps ;  1,824  inscriptions  engraved  on  marble 
or  stone ;  77  columns  of  rare  marble ;  313  pieces  of  col- 
umns ;  157  marble  capitals ;  118  bases ;  590  works  of  art 
in  terra  cotta  ;  405  works  of  art  in  bronze ;  711  gems,  in- 
taglios, cameos  ;  18  marble  sarcophagi  ;  152  bas  -  relief  s ; 
192  marble  statues  in  a  good  state  of  preservation ;  21 
marble  figures  of  animals ;  266  busts  and  heads ;  54  pic- 
tures in  polychrome  mosaic ;  47  objects  of  gold ;  39  of 
silver ;  36,679  coins  of  gold,  silver,  and  bronze ;  and  an 
almost  incredible  amount  of  smaller  relics  in  terra  cotta, 
bone,  glass,  enamel,  lead,  ivory,  iron,  copper,  and  stucco. 
These  collections  do  not  contain  merely  common  or  ordi- 
nary objects ;  they  contain  masterpieces  in  every  branch 
and  department,  —  masterpieces  which,  in  an  age  a  little 
less  devoted  to  finance  and  politics,  would  have  created  a 
deep  sensation  all  over  the  world.  Besides,  the  objects  I 
have  named  pertain  to  the  material  side  of  the  question 
only;  the  conquests  of  science  are  still  greater.  They 
have  thrown  more  light  on  the  archaeology  of  Rome  than 
had  been  thrown  in  a  century  before.  There  is  an  in- 
stance connected  with  one  single  branch  of  the  science, 
—  the  branch  of  epigraphy.  The  first  part  of  volume  vi. 
of  the  "Corpus  Inscriptionum  Latinarum,"  published  by 
the  Berlin  Academy  of  Sciences,  contains  3,925  ancient 
inscriptions  (of  gods,  emperors,  magistrates,  priests,  and 


PREFACE.  n 

military  officers),  discovered  from  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century  to  1876.  From  1876  to  the  end  of  last 
year  I  have  myself  discovered  and  published  more  than  one 
thousand ;  consequently  in  ten  years'  time  the  Roman  soil 
has  supplied  epigraphy  with  one  fourth  as  much  as  the 
total  amount  brought  to  light  during  the  five  preceding 
centuries. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  mention,  one  by  one,  the  scien- 
tific discoveries  of  special  importance  made  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  city  of  Rome ;  if  I  did,  this  Preface  would  ex- 
ceed in  length  the  volume  it  introduces.  We  have  discov- 
ered a  new  archaeological  stratum,  totally  unknown  before, 
—  the  stratum  of  prehistoric  or  traditional  antiquities ;  we 
have  discovered  a  necropolis  older  than  the  walls  of  Servius 
Tullius,  containing  more  than  5,000  archaic  specimens  in 
bronze,  amber,  stone,  and  clay ;  we  have  brought  to  light 
more  than  5,000  feet  of  the  great  agger,  or  embankment 
of  Servius,  and  ascertained  the  site  of  fourteen  gates ;  we 
have  unearthed  the  remains  of  numberless  houses  and  pal- 
aces, temples  and  shrines,  roads  and  drains,  parks  and  gar- 
dens, fora  and  porticoes,  fountains  and  aqueducts,  tombs 
and  mausolea,  to  such  an  extent  that  whereas  before  1872 
science  possessed  only  approximate  attempts  at  an  archaeo- 
logical map  of  Rome,  we  have  put  at  the  disposal  of  stu- 
dents magnificent  ones,  covering  an  area  of  3,967,200 
square  metres  of  the  ancient  city. 

It  would  be  of  no  use  to  deny  that  all  these  great  con- 
quests in  the  artistic  and  scientific  field  have  been  obtained 
with  a  certain  amount  of  loss  and  sacrifice.  Persons  ready 
to  detect  the  mote  in  their  neighbor's  eye  have  filled  the 
world  with  their  lamentations  over  these  partial  losses  and 
sacrifices.  Pamphlets  written  on  the  subject,  with  but  little 
impartiality,  by  eminent  men,  have  been  translated  into 


xii  PREFACE. 

many  languages  and  largely  circulated,  with  the  intention 
of  raising  a  crusade  against  the  profane  destroyers  of  the 
beautiful  city  of  Rome.  As  is  the  case  in  all  controversies 
not  purely  scientific,  but  mixed  with  personal,  political,  or 
religious  feelings,  the  state  of  things  has  been  exaggerated 
beyond  measure.  It  appears  to  me  that  to  satisfy  our  critics, 
whose  love  for  art  and  archeology  goes  beyond  the  limits 
of  practical  good  sense,  it  would  have  been  desirable  to 
have  had  Rome  annihilated  with  the  empire  at  the  end  of 
the  fifth  century,  so  that  we  might  excavate  it  now  with  the 
same  ease  and  with  the  same  freedom  with  which  we  exca- 
vate Ostia  and  Pompeii.  But  we  must  remember  that  Rome 
has  always  lived,  and  lived  at  the  expense  of  the  past ; 
every  generation  has,  in  a  certain  measure,  absorbed  or  de- 
stroyed the  works  of  the  preceding  one,  and  it  is  wonderful 
that  so  much  should  still  be  left  of  the  works  raised  by  the 
ancients,  after  a  process  of  destruction  and  transformation 
which  has  been  going  on  for  fourteen  centuries ! 

The  history  of  the  vicissitudes  of  Rome,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  present  controversy,  must  be  divided  into 
four  periods.  The  first  extends  from  the  fall  of  the  empire 
to  the  return  of  the  popes  from  Avignon  ;  the  second,  the 
glorious  period  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  during  which 
the  ruins  of  antiquity  were  most  abominably  treated,  ends 
with  the  Seicento  ;  the  third,  which  marks  the  destruction 
of  mediaBval  remains,  stops  with  the  Napoleonic  conquest  of 
Italy ;  during  the  fourth,  from  the  empire  of  Napoleon  to 
1870,  the  first  moves  were  at  last  made  in  the  right  direc- 
tion of  discovering  and  preserving  ancient  monuments. 

The  Romans  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  not  excessively 
guilty  as  regards  the  destruction  of  ancient  ruins,  because 
the  monuments  crumbled  more  from  sheer  old  age,  from 
abandonment,  from  fires  and  earthquakes,  than  by  the  de- 


PREFACE.  xiii 

terminate  action  of  men.  In  fact,  the  poverty  and  ignorance 
of  the  age  made  the  raising  of  new  structures  either  diffi- 
cult or  impossible ;  so  that  people  took  advantage,  as  well 
as  they  could,  of  the  existing  ruins  when  transforming  them, 
or  portions  of  them,  into  churches  and  convents  and  private 
dwellings.  Thus  the  temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina  be- 
came the  church  of  S.  Lorenzo ;  the  temple  of  the  Sacra  Urbs, 
the  church  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano ;  the  Senate-House,  the 
church  of  S.  Adriano  ;  the  offices  of  the  Senate-House,  the 
church  of  Santa  Martina.  Thus,  also,  the  basilica  of  Ju- 
nius  Bassus  was  dedicated  to  S.  Andrea;  the  temple  of 
Concord  to  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus ;  the  temple  of  Ceres 
to  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin ;  the  temple  of  Piety  to  S.  Nico- 
las ;  that  of  Mater  Matuta  to  S.  Stefano ;  that  of  the  For- 
tuna  Virilis,  to  Santa  Maria  Egiziaca ;  the  Macellum  Mag- 
num became  the  church  of  S.  Stefano ;  the  Pantheon  and 
the  temple  of  Minerva  were  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  ; 
and  so  on  indefinitely.  Nearly  one  half  of  the  thousand 
and  more  churches  and  shrines  registered  in  Rome  in  the 
fourteenth  century  were  indicated  by  the  titles  —  in  ther- 
mis,  in  porticu,  in  maximis,  in  archione,  in  f  ormis,  in  palatio, 
in  horreis,  in  marmorata,  in  paradiso,  in  lauro,  in  macello, 
in  piscina.  The  example  set  by  the  clergy  in  appropriat- 
ing the  above  descriptive  terms  was  followed  closely  by  the 
noblemen  of  the  age :  by  the  Savelli,  who  had  intrenched 
themselves  within  the  theatre  of  Marcellus,  and  within  the 
temple  of  Libertas  on  the  Aventine ;  by  the  Conti,  whose 
famous  tower  near  the  Piazza  delle  Carrette  rests  on  the 
ruins  of  the  Templum  Telluris ;  by  the  Frangipani,  whose 
central  fortress  on  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  was  surrounded 
by  detached  works,  erected  on  the  Colosseum,  on  the  arch 
of  Titus,  on  the  arch  of  Constantine,  on  the  Janus  of  the 
Forum  Boarium ;  by  the  Colonnas,  masters  of  the  mauso- 


xiv  PREFACE. 

leum  of  Augustus  and  of  the  temple  of  the  Sun  on  the 
Quirinal ;  by  the  Crescenzi,  who  sought  refuge  among  the 
great  halls  of  the  thermae  of  Severus  Alexander;  by  the 
Orsini,  whose  headquarters  were  established  in  the  theatre 
of  Pompey  the  Great ;  by  the  S.  P.  Q.  R.,  masters  of  the 
Tabularium,  and  so  forth.  It  is  evident  that  such  adap- 
tations of  ancient  ruins  for  the  use  of  churches,  fortresses, 
houses,  indirectly  contributed  to  their  preservation.  At 
any  rate,  when  we  hear  of  destructions  accomplished  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  we  have,  in  many  cases,  the  evidence  of 
their  absolute  necessity.  In  the  life  of  Hadrian  I.,  the 
"  Liber  Pontificalis  "  relates  how  the  temple  of  Ceres  in  the 
Forum  Boarium  was  demolished  to  save  the  church  of  S. 
Maria  in  Cosmedin  from  being  crushed  by  the  fall  of  the 
overhanging  ruins.  The  same  Pope  Hadrian  was  obliged 
to  rebuild  the  church  of  SS.  Sergius  and  Bacchus  one  hun- 
dred feet  south  of  its  original  site,  to  save  it  from  the 
danger  of  being  swept  away  by  the  fall  of  the  temple  of 
Concord. 

We  must  not  forget,  moreover,  that  the  ruins  of  the  an- 
cient city  were  a  permanent  source  of  danger  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  mediaeval  city ;  so  much  so  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  some  of  those  ruins  must  be  considered  to  have  been 
in  legitimate  self-defence.  Those  galleries  tumbling  into 
pieces ;  those  crypts  plunged  in  darkness ;  those  thermae 
lost  in  the  wilderness  of  the  abandoned  quarters  of  the  old 
town ;  those  porticoes,  many  stories  high,  half  concealed 
under  a  thick  growth  of  ivies  and  shrubs,  were  haunted  by 
outlaws,  murderers,  and  brigands,  who,  sheltered  as  they 
were,  could  defy  from  their  inaccessible  dens  all  the  com- 
bined efforts  of  the  police  and  of  the  baronial  gens- 
d'armes.  This  state  of  things  and  this  most  curious  rela- 
tionship between  ancient  ruins  and  public  security  will  be 


PREFACE.  xv 

better  understood  from  one  or  two  incidents  which  have 
taken  place  lately  under  our  own  eyes  or  under  the  eyes  of 
the  preceding  generation. 

Antonio  Uggeri,  the  indefatigable  explorer  of  Roman 
monuments  under  Pius  VI.,  after  relating  how  a  great  many 
skeletons  of  murdered  men  had  been  discovered  in  the  exca- 
vations of  the  Colosseum,  under  the  arcades  of  which  they 
had  been  secretly  buried,  speaks  of  the  following  personal 
experience  ("  Antichita,"  vol.  xxii.) :  "  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  Colosseum  has  been  for  centuries  the  safest  den  of 
Roman  outlaws.  This  is  what  happened  to  me  there  in 
1790.  I  was  engaged  at  that  time  in  correcting  some 
measurements  which  I  had  taken  of  the  building  on  former 
occasions.  I  arrived  on  the  spot  one  afternoon,  an  hour 
before  sunset,  climbed  up,  not  without  danger,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  roughness  of  the  walls,  and  entered  the  main 
corridor,  on  my  way  to  the  upper  galleries.  I  had  walked 
scarcely  a  hundred  paces  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  man 
sprang  at  me  from  behind  a  corner,  —  a  man  very  tall,  en- 
tirely naked,  with  rags  around  his  head  and  ankles,  black  in 
the  face,  bearded,  and  absolutely  repulsive  to  look  at.  He 
caught  me  by  the  waist,  shook  me  violently,  asking  at  the 
same  time  who  I  was,  what  business  I  had  there,  and  other 
such  questions.  I  answered,  trembling,  that  I  was  an  archi- 
tect, and  showed  him  my  measure  and  my  compass  as  an 
evidence  of  the  purpose  of  my  expedition  among  those 
ruins.  In  the  mean  while  I  heard  a  more  gentle  voice  close 
by,  begging  him  to  leave  me  in  peace ;  and,  proceeding  a 
few  steps  farther,  I  discovered  the  rest  of  the  company 
under  the  vault  of  one  of  the  staircases.  It  was  composed 
of  two  more  men  and  one  woman  (to  whose  interference  I 
most  likely  owed  my  life),  all  three  entirely  naked,  as  the 
season  was  very  warm.  One  of  the  men  was  standing  j 


xvi  PREFACE. 

the  other  was  cooking  something  at  the  farther  end  of  the 
passage.  The  poor  woman  crouched  down  to  conceal  her 
nudity  as  well  as  she  could." 

In  case  this  adventure  of  1790  should  seem  antiquated  to 
the  reader,  I  can  instance  a  more  recent  and  quite  personal 
experience.  In  the  year  1874,  when  the  new  Via  Claudia  was 
first  opened  between  the  Colosseum  and  the  Navicella,  I  dis- 
covered a  whole  family  nested  in  an  underground  corridor 
(thirty-six  feet  below  the  level  of  the  temple  of  Claudius). 
The  corridor  or  channel  was  but  six  feet  wide,  a  few  yards 
long,  with  a  scanty  supply  of  air  and  light.  One  of  the 
family  was  lying  dead  on  some  straw ;  the  others  were  pray- 
ing and  sobbing  round  the  corpse.  In  1877,  when  engaged 
in  restoring  the  so-called  Trophies  of  Marius  (the  fountain 
of  the  Aqua  Julia),  in  the  Piazza  Vittorio  Emmanuele,  I  dis- 
covered, likewise,  a  family  who  had  been  living  for  years 
inside  the  dry  channel  of  the  old  aqueduct.  A  few  months 
ago  the  hiding-place  of  a  daring  pickpocket  was  discovered 
right  in  the  attic-room  of  the  arch  of  Titus,  together  with 
many  ancient  marble  heads  and  fragments,  —  a  proof  of 
his  additional  archaeological  instincts.  If  such  things  can 
happen  in  an  epoch  as  civilized  as  ours,  and  under  the 
eyes  of  a  vigilant  and  acute  police,  we  cannot  wonder  if  in 
the  Middle  Ages  the  existence  of  ruins  was  considered  in 
some  cases  inconsistent  with  public  security. 

I  have  said  all  this  to  prove  that,  in  the  long  and  sad 
history  of  the  destruction  of  ancient  Rome,  the  Middle  Ages 
are  perhaps  the  least  guilty,  —  less  guilty,  at  any  rate,  than 
the  period  of  the  Renaissance  which  followed.  In  spite  of 
their  enthusiastic  love  for  ancient  art  and  classic  civiliza- 
tion, the  great  masters  of  the  Renaissance  treated  our 
monuments  and  ruins  with  incredible  contempt  and  brutal- 
ity. The  original  cause  of  this  state  of  things  must  be 


PREFACE.  xvii 

found,  strange  to  say,  in  the  increasing  civilization  of  the 
age,  in  the  softening  and  refining  of  former  habits,  in  the 
development  of  public  and  private  wealth,  which  was  push- 
ing popes,  cardinals,  patricians,  bankers,  and  rich  merchants 
to  raise  everywhere  magnificent  palaces  and  villas,  churches 
and  monasteries,  aqueducts  and  fountains,  harbors  and 
bridges,  castles  and  towers.  All  these  constructions  of  the 
golden  age,  which  justly  form  the  pride  of  my  city,  and 
make  it  unique  and  enviable  by  the  whole  world,  were 
built,  stone  by  stone,  with  materials  stolen  from  ancient 
ruins.  In  the  course  of  the  present  book  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  at  length  on  this  subject,  proving  that  the 
cinquecento  excavations  did  more  harm  to  the  monuments 
of  imperial,  republican,  and  kingly  Rome  than  the  ten  cen- 
turies of  preceding  barbarism.  I  do  not  say  these  things 
to  cast  reproach  upon  the  memory  of  men  —  popes,  princes, 
artists  —  who  so  powerfully  contributed  to  the  embellish- 
ment of  Rome,  and  who  in  place  of  the  edifices  destroyed 
by  them  left  to  us  other  creations  which  leave  nothing  to 
envy  in  the  ancient  ones.  I  make  these  remarks  only  to 
confirm  what  was  said  at  the  outset,  namely,  that  the  pro- 
cess of  destruction  and  transformation  is  as  old  as  the  his- 
tory of  Rome  itself,  and  that  this  state  of  things  is  so  true 
and  so  in  accordance  with  the  nature  of  the  place  and  its 
inhabitants  that,  to  prevent  so  far  as  was  possible  further 
damages  to  our  ruins,  the  famous  legge  Pacca  was  pro- 
mulgated, a  law  worthy  the  brutality  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
which  partially  attained  its  end,  thanks  to  its  clauses  of 
unheard-of  violence. 

The  next  period,  which  runs  from  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth,  ranks 
also  among  the  saddest  in  our  history,  because  it  marks 
the  almost  complete  destruction  of  mediaeval  buildings. 


xviii  PREFACE. 

Under  the  pretence  of  restorations  and  embellishments,  the 
authorities  laid  their  hands  upon  the  most  noted  and  the 
most  venerable  churches  of  the  city,  which  had  until  then 
preserved  their  beautiful  basilical  type  in  all  its  simplicity, 
purity,  and  majesty.  Alfonzo  Sotomayor  in  1665,  Pier  da 
Cortona  under  Urban  VIII.,  and  Borromini  under  Alexan- 
der VII.  disfigured  the  twin  churches  of  S.  Adriano  and 
S.  Martina.  Onorio  Longhi  destroyed  in  1651  the  church 
of  S.  Ambrogio  and  its  marvellous  frescoes  by  Pierino  del 
Vaga,  to  build  in  its  place  the  tasteless  structure  of  S. 
Carlo  al  Corso.  The  old  church  of  S.  Alessio  was  shame- 
fully modernized  by  Tommaso  de  Marchis  in  1750,  and  so 
were  those  of  S.  Anastasia  in  1722  by  Carlo  Gimach,  of  S. 
Apollinare  by  Ferdinando  Fuga,  of  SS.  Apostoli  by  Fran- 
cesco Fontana,  of  SS.  Cosma  e  Damiano  by  Aririgucci. 
The  basilica  of  S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme,  profaned  and 
reduced  to  its  present  form  in  1744  by  Passalacqua  and 
Gregorini,  is  classified  by  Milizia  among  the  works  of  ne- 
farious architects.  The  same  title  of  nefarious  is  given  by 
Fea  to  Paolo  Posi,  who  under  the  pontificate  of  Benedict 
XIV.  profaned  the  attic  of  the  Pantheon,  substituting  chi- 
aroscuro daubs  for  the  exquisite  marble  incrustations  of 
Septimius  Severus.  And  we  must  acknowledge  that  the 
same  criticism  ought  to  be  applied  —  from  the  point  of 
view  of  church  architecture  —  to  Borromini  for  the  disfig- 
urement of  the  Lateran,  to  Antonio  Canevari  for  that  of 
SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  to  Francesco  Ferrari  for  that  of  S. 
Gregorio  on  the  Coalian,  and  so  forth. 

These  churches,  before  the  shameful  restorations,  were 
generally  divided  into  three  naves  by  means  of  colonnades, 
the  shafts  of  which  had  been  removed  from  some  neighbor- 
ing classic  edifice  ;  their  pavements  were  inlaid  with  marble 
slabs,  for  the  greater  part  inscribed  with  pagan  historical 


PREFACE.  xix 

inscriptions  or  with  epitaphs,  or  else  worked  in  alto  or  basso 
rilievo,  with  patches  of  Cosmati  tessellated  work  here  and 
there.  The  walls  of  the  central  nave,  supported  by  the 
two  parallel  rows  of  columns,  were  still  covered  with  paint- 
ings and  frescoes  of  the  Middle  Ages  or  of  the  earliest  Re- 
naissance, and  were  perforated  by  narrow,  oblong  Lombard- 
esque  windows,  through  which  a  thread  of  subdued  light 
penetrated,  enough  to  keep  the  sanctuary  in  a  dreamy  twi- 
light, which  invited  the  faithful  to  meditation  and  prayer. 
The  roof  was  supported  by  beams  of  cedar  wood  ;  the 
fagade  was  ornamented  with  a  portico  of  spiral  or  fluted 
columns,  with  bases  and  capitals  of  various  styles  and  work- 
manship ;  the  doorposts  of  the  only  entrance  rested  upon  the 
backs  of  lions,  modelled  by  Vassalletus ;  the  upper  fagade, 
above  the  portico,  was  covered  with  frescoes  and  mosaics. 

The  system  followed  in  restoring  these  churches  was  every- 
where uniform.  The  columns  of  the  nave  were  walled  up, 
and  concealed  in  thick  pilasters  of  whitewashed  masonry ; 
the  inscribed  or  sculptured  marble  slabs  and  the  mosaic 
pavements  were  taken  up,  and  replaced  by  brick  floors ;  the 
windows  were  enlarged  out  of  all  proportion,  and  assumed 
a  rectangular  form,  so  that  floods  of  light  might  enter  and 
illuminate  every  remote,  peaceful  recess  of  the  sacred  place. 
For  the  beautiful  roofs  made  of  cedar  wood,  vaults  or  lacuna- 
ria  were  substituted.  The  number  of  entrance-doors  was 
trebled ;  the  simple  but  precious  frescoes  of  the  fourteenth 
century  were  whitewashed,  and  the  fresh  surface  was  cov- 
ered with  the  insignificant  productions  of  Francesco  Cozza, 
Gerolama  Troppa,  Giacinto  Brandi,  Michelangelo  Cerruti, 
Pasquale  Marini,  Biagio  Puccini,  and  other  painters  equally 
obscure.  All  these  profanations  could  be  accomplished,  not 
only  without  opposition,  but  amid  general  applause,  because 
such  was  the  spirit  and  the  perverted  taste  of  the  age. 


xx  PREFACE. 

It  is  enough  to  quote  the  example  of  G.  B.  Piranesi,  archi- 
tect, archaeologist,  engraver,  educated  under  the  influence 
and  the  inspiration  of  ancient  art,  worshipper  of  ancient 
masterpieces  of  architecture,  who,  when  asked  in  1765  by 
Cardinal  Rezzonico  to  restore  the  church  of  S.  Maria  del 
Priorato  di  Malta  on  the  Aventine,  created  such  an  ensem- 
ble of  monstrosities  —  inside  and  outside  the  church  —  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  find  its  parallel  anywhere  in  the 
world.  We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  artists  who 
took  such  an  active  and  shameful  part  in  the  crusade 
against  our  mediaeval  churches  and  cloisters  were  the  very 
ones  who  embellished  Rome  with  such  beautiful  creations 
as  the  Trevi  fountain,  the  Palazzo  della  Consulta,  the  Cu- 
ria Innocenziana,  the  Corsini  chapel  in  the  Lateran,  the 
churches  of  S.  Agnese,  of  S.  Andrea  al  Quirinale,  of  S. 
Carlo  a'  Catinari,  the  palazzi  Rinuccini,  Corsini,  Altieri, 
Pamphili,  Falconieri,  Madama,  etc. 

Very  few  words  need  be  spent  on  the  fourth  period,  — 
from  the  end  of  the  last  century  to  1870,  —  because  the 
beneficial  and  munificent  spirit  shown  towards  our  monu- 
ments by  Pius  VI.,  Pius  VII.,  Count  de  Tournon,  the  Na- 
poleonic prefect  of  the  "  departement  du  Tibre,"  of  Greg- 
ory XVI.,  and  Pius  IX.  is  known  to  every  one,  as  we  know 
the  grave  faults  committed  at  the  same  time,  and  the  dam- 
ages inflicted  without  any  apparent  reason  upon  many  works 
of  art. 

Pius  VI.  founded,  in  the  Vatican,  the  gaUery  of  inscrip- 
tions, the  cabinet  of  masks,  the  hall  of  the  Muses,  the  Rotun- 
da, the  halls  of  the  Greek  Cross  and  of  the  Biga.  Pius  VII 
founded  the  Braccio  Nuovo  and  the  Chiaramonti  museum. 
Under  the  wise  administration  of  Count  de  Tournon  not 
less  than  one  million  dollars  were  spent  in  works  of  public 
utility,  and  in  excavating  and  laying  bare  to  archaeological 


PREFACE.  xxi 

investigation  such  monuments  as  the  temples  of  Vespasian, 
of  Castor  and  Pollux,  of  Antoninus  and  Faustina,  of  Venus 
and  Rome,  of  the  Mater  Matuta,  of  the  Fortuna  Virilis, 
the  basilica  of  Constantine,  the  Colosseum,  the  Golden  House 
of  Nero,  the  Janus  of  the  Forum  Boarium,  the  Basilica 
Ulpia,  the  Forum  of  Trajan,  etc.  All  these  works,  begun 
by  Tournon,  were  most  successfully  brought  to  perfection 
by  Pius  VII.  Gregory  XVI.,  devoid  as  he  was  of  classic 
instruction  and  refinement,  left  to  us  three  incomparable 
new  museums,  the  Egyptian,  the  Etruscan,  and  the  Lateran. 
Under  the  rule  of  Pius  IX.  the  monuments  of  the  city, 
the  museums,  the  galleries,  were  the  object  of  constant  and 
liberal  care. 

As  for  the  damage  done  to  ancient  or  Renaissance  mon- 
uments during  the  same  period,  a  small  portion  of  it  has 
been  described  by  Pellegrini,  in  the  Memoire  which  was 
forbidden  publication  in  Rome  by  the  papal  authorities  of 
the  time. 

Coming  now.  to  our  own  times,  and  the  controversy  lately 
raised  on  the  so-called  destruction  of  Rome,  I  must  acknowl- 
edge that  the  sensation  we  felt  when  the  controversy  was 
opened  was  one  of  disgust  rather  than  of  sorrow.  These 
pretended  revelations  of  vandalism,  these  condemnations  of 
operations  characterized  at  first  as  destruction  of  Rome,  later 
on  as  simple  transformation  or  disfigurement,  were  levelled 
at  men  who  for  the  last  seventeen  years  have  been  con- 
stantly on  the  watch  to  defend  inch  by  inch  the  archaeolog- 
ical ground  against  the  princes  of  finance  and  speculation, 
against  engineers  and  contractors,  against  the  daily  press. 
Considering,  however,  the  state  of  things  more  calmly,  we 
must  be  grateful  to  the  authors  of  the  controversy,  not  only 
because  we  believe  them  to  have  been  inspired  alone  by  the 
pure  love  they  feel  for  art  and  archaeology,  but  also  be- 


xxii  PREFACE. 

cause  they  have  given  us  a  solemn  occasion  for  discussing 
the  subject,  and  making  the  light  of  truth  shine  forth  in 
its  full  splendor.  When  at  the  end  of  1870  the  Italian 
government  turned  its  attention  towards  the  archaeological 
interest  of  the  city,  the  valley  of  the  Forum  was  still  the 
Campo  Vaccino  of  past  ages.  With  the  exception  of  the 
column  of  Phocas,  excavated  by  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire, 
of  a  narrow  ledge  of  the  Basilica  Julia,  and  a  portion  of 
the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  excavated  by  Tournon, 
all  that  classic  group  lay  buried  under  an  embankment 
thirty-three  feet  high.  If  in  1870  any  one  had  spoken  to 
us  of  the  probability  of  an  imminent  and  complete  exca- 
vation of  the  Forum,  from  end  to  end,  we  should  have  de- 
nied the  possibility  of  such  an  enterprise  being  accom- 
plished by  a  single  generation.  But  now  the  golden  dream 
has  become  a  reality.  To-day,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
fall  of  the  empire,  we  are  able  to  walk  over  the  bare  pave- 
ment of  the  Sacra  Via,  from  its  beginning  near  the  Colos- 
seum to  its  end  near  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus, 
admiring  on  either  side  of  the  wonderful  road  the  most 
glorious  monuments  of  the  republic  and  of  the  empire. 
To  the  discovery  and  excavation  of  this  group  we  must 
add  the  excavation  of  the  baths  of  Caracalla,  of  the  Sta- 
dium of  Domitian,  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  palace  of 
the  Csesars ;  the  isolation  of  Agrippa's  Pantheon,  and  of 
the  so  -  called  Nymphasum  of  Minerva  Medica ;  and  the 
transfer  from  private  to  public  domain  of  the  whole  Pala- 
tine hill,  the  lands  covering  the  baths  of  Titus  and  Cara- 
calla, the  necropolis  on  the  Via  Latina,  the  tombs  of  the 
Scipios,  Ostia,  and  the  villa  of  Hadrian. 

As  regards  the  art-treasures  collected  since  1870,  it  is 
enough  to  name  the  two  bronze  athletes  lately  discovered  on 
the  slope  of  the  Quirinal,  the  bronze  Bacchus  of  the  Tiber, 


PREFACE. 

the  Juno  of  the  Palatine,  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  Forum,  and 
the  four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  statues  and  busts  brought 
together  by  the  municipality.  To  obtain  these  results,  the 
state  and  the  municipality  have  spent  about  one  million 
dollars,  and  excavated  and  removed  miles  away  in  all 
two  hundred  and  eighty-six  million  cubic  feet  of  earth. 
What  state,  what  city,  in  the  world  can  boast  of  having 
done  in  so  short  a  time  the  hundredth  part  of  what  has 
been  accomplished  in  Rome  ? 

We  must  not  forget  that  whereas  in  former  times  ar- 
chaeological discoveries  were  made  known  to  a  limited  num- 
ber of  privileged  experts,  sometimes  years  after  they  had 
taken  place,  now  the  "  Bullettino  della  Commissione  arche- 
ologica  comunale  di  Roma  "  describes  every  month  all  the 
latest  discoveries,1  thus  enabling  specialists  scattered  all  over 
the  world  to  share  the  privilege  of  those  residing  in  Rome. 

I  have  spoken  hitherto  almost  exclusively  of  ancient  mon- 
uments and  works  of  art,  to  keep  myself  within  the  radius  of 
my  own  studies  and  within  the  boundaries  of  my  own  prov- 
ince. If  the  action  of  the  state  and  of  the  city  authorities 
has  not  proved  of  equal  benefit  in  preserving  mediaeval  build- 
ings, it  is  only  because  mediaeval  buildings  are  exceedingly 
scarce  in  Rome.  Still  something  has  been,  and  more  will 
be,  done.  The  house  of  the  Anguillara,  for  instance,  with 
its  picturesque  tower  and  surroundings,  has  already  been 
purchased  by  the  city,  with  the  intention  of  having  it  turned 
into  a  mediaeval  museum.  The  Torre  delle  Milizie  has  also 
been  rescued  from  private  hands,  as  well  as  the  Tower  of 

1  The  Bullettino  della  Commissione  logical  novelties  up  to  the  twenty-fifth 

archeologica  comunale  di  Roma  was  es-  day  of  the  preceding  one.     It  is  con- 

tablished  December,   1872,  first  as  a  sidered  the  most  interesting  "  maga- 

quarterly,  later  on  as  a  monthly  pub-  zine  "  of  its  kind,  especially  on  account 

lication.     Issued  on   the  first  day  of  of  its  beautiful  illustrations, 
each  month,  it  describes  the  archseo- 


xxiv  PREFACE. 

S.  Martino  a'  Monti  and  the  fortified  convent  of  SS.  Quat- 
tro  Coronati. 

As  I  have  remarked  above,  it  would  be  useless  to  deny 
that  all  these  important  conquests  in  the  historical,  archaBO- 
logical,  and  artistic  field  have  been  accompanied  and  followed 
by  a  certain  amount  of  loss  and  sacrifice.  It  is  useless  to 
deny  that  the  picturesqueness  and  the  main  characteristics  of 
the  Rome  of  the  popes  are  now  a  matter  of  the  past.  Our 
churches,  our  monasteries,  our  monuments,  are  still  left  un- 
disturbed, —  in  fact  they  are  better  taken  care  of :  but  we 
miss  their  old  surroundings ;  we  miss  the  aged  ilexes,  form- 
ing as  it  were  the  frame  of  the  picture,  their  deep  green  giv- 
ing by  contrast  that  vigor  and  brilliancy  to  the  golden  hue 
which  old  age  lends  to  ruins  in  southern  climates  ;  we  miss 
the  exquisite  background  of  the  Alban  hills,  and  the  snow- 
capped summits  of  the  Apennine  range ;  we  miss  that  sense 
of  quiet  and  peaceful  enjoyment  which  pervaded  the  whole 
scene.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  anything  more  com- 
monplace, and  out  of  keeping,  and  shabby,  and  tasteless, 
than  the  new  quarters  which  encircle  the  city  of  1870.  An 
excuse  for  this  wretched  state  of  tilings  can  be  found  in 
the  rapidity  with  which  these  new  quarters  have  sprung  out 
of  the  ground,  and  also  in  the  necessity  of  giving  a  hasty 
shelter  to  the  new  population  of  nearly  two  hundred  thou- 
sand immigrants.  The  lovely  districts  crossed  by  the  Via 
Salaria  and  the  Via  Nomentana,  formerly  studded  with  pa- 
trician villas  and  gardens,  overlooking  the  Campagna,  the 
vaUey  of  the  Anio,  the  Sabine  and  Volscian  mountains,  have 
been  transformed  into  an  ugly  city  of  five-storied  anti- 
aBsthetic  houses,  looking  more  like  barracks  and  barns 
than  like  dwellings  for  the  cultivated  inhabitants  of  the 
metropolis  of  a  great  kingdom.  The  same  practice  has 
been  followed  in  building  on  the  Esquiline,  the  Viminal,  and 


PREFACE. 

the  Quirinal  hills,  the  plains  of  Testaccio  and  of  Castello, 
and  the  outskirts  of  the  city  outside  the  gates  S.  Lorenzo, 
Maggiore,  S.  Giovanni,  Angelica,  and  Portese. 

As  I  wrote  in  the  "  Athenseum  "  of  December  10,  1887, 
Rome,  seen  from  one  of  the  neighboring  heights,  —  from 
the  Monte  Cavo  for  instance,  —  is  no  more  the  Rome  of  our 
dreams,  of  a  beautiful  brownish  hue,  surrounded  by  dense 
masses  of  f  oliage :  it  is  an  immense  white  dazzling  spot,  some 
six  miles  in  diameter,  bordering  directly  on  the  wilderness 
of  the  Campagna.  In  other  words,  Rome  is  assuming  the 
look  of  a  modern  capital,  with  all  its  comforts  and  disad- 
vantages,— perhaps  with  more  disadvantages  than  comforts. 
The  thought  that,  to  make  room  for  the  new  quarters,  all 
but  two  of  our  villas  have  been  mercilessly  sacrificed,  makes 
us  hate  the  very  name  and  sight  of  new  quarters  !  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  decide  who  is  to  blame  for  the  present  state  of 
things.  The  city  authorities  have  been  taken  by  surprise : 
they  never  dreamt  that  the  population  would  double  in  fif- 
teen years ;  that  Italian  and  foreign  speculation  was  ready 
to  throw  hundreds  of  millions  on  the  Roman  market ;  and 
lastly,  that  the  result  of  this  sudden  influx  of  "  ready 
money  "  would  be  the  raising  of  the  value  of  land  from  a  few 
centimes  the  square  metre  to  more  than  one  thousand  francs. 
In  my  opinion,  the  blame  must  be  cast  especially  on  the  Ro- 
man aristocracy,  on  our  noble  land-owners  unworthy  the 
great  names,  which  to  our  misfortune  they  have  inherited  ; 
because  no  sooner  did  this  degenerate  race  discern  the  pos- 
sibility of  raising  a  little  money  on  the  magnificent  villas 
which  their  forefathers  had  built  and  laid  out  for  the  com- 
fort, health,  and  welfare  of  their  fellow-citizens,  than  they 
did  not  hesitate  one  second  to  sell  by  the  yard,  as  it  were, 
the  glory  and  pride  of  then1  families.  We  have  seen  three 
of  them  sell  the  very  gardens  which  surrounded  their  city 


xxvi  PREFACE. 

mansions,  allowing  these  mansions  to  be  contaminated  by 
the  contact  of  ignoble  tenement  houses.  We  have  seen  one 
of  them  sell,  piece  by  piece,  even  his  collections  of  works  of 
art  and  of  family  souvenirs  and  documents  and  relics.  We 
have  seen  every  single  one  of  our  patrician  villas  —  the 
Patrizi,  the  Sciarra,  the  Massimo,  the  Lucernari,  the  Mira- 
fiori,  the  Wolkonsky,  the  Giustiniani,  the  Torlonias,  the 
Campana,  the  San  Faustino  —  destroyed,  their  casinos  dis- 
mantled, and  their  beautiful  old  trees  burnt  into  charcoal ; 
the  destruction  of  the  Villa  Borghese  has  been  stopped,  for 
the  moment,  by  a  more  or  less  just  decree  of  court.  In  one 
case  only,  a  nobleman  de  la  vieille  roche  resisted  up  to  his 
last  breath  the  temptation  of  selling  his  villa.  His  burial 
service  was  scarcely  over,  when  the  opportunity  was  seized, 
and  what  he  had  before  strenuously  prevented,  as  a  shame 
to  the  family,  was  accomplished  by  his  princely  sons  and 
daughters  in  less  than  a  week,  and  the  site  of  the  villa,  the 
most  magnificent  one  Rome  possessed  within  its  walls,  is 
already  covered  with  tenement  houses. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  an  idea  of  the  cruel  persistence 
with  which  foliage,  vegetation,  trees,  everything  which  is 
green,  are  persecuted  in  and  around  Rome.  Public  admin- 
istrations, state,  municipality,  and  private  individuals  seem 
to  vie  with  each  other  in  taking  the  lead  of  the  crusade 
against  the  few  samples  of  vegetable  life  which  the  auri 
sacra  fames  of  the  Roman  aristocracy  has  left  standing. 
When  the  municipality  took  possession  of  the  Villa  Corsini 
on  the  Janiculum,  to  transform  it  into  a  public  promenade, 
they  began  their  work  by  cutting  down  the  great  oaks 
planted  by  Queen  Christine  of  Sweden,  under  the  pretence 
that  they  interfered  with  the  view.  When  the  Italian  au- 
thorities reorganized  the  department  of  public  instruction 
in  Rome,  they  gave  up  the  lovely  botanical  gardens  on  the 


PREFACE.  xxvii 

Lungara,  under  pretence  of  finding  a  better  site  for  the 
new  ones.  The  site  has  not  yet  been  found.  The  Vati- 
can authorities,  to  make  room  for  a  monumental  column 
of  the  Council  of  1870  have  simply  obliterated  the  beau- 
tiful Giardino  della  Pigna.  No  wonder  that  private  citi- 
zens do  not  hesitate  to  follow  such  noble  examples.  No 
wonder  that  we  already  begin  to  feel  the  effects  of  this 
wholesale  destruction,  by  an  increase  of  two  degrees  in  the 
average  temperature  in  summer,  and  by  a  decrease  in  the 
average  proportion  of  the  oxygen  of  our  atmosphere.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  projects  prepared  and  sanctioned  by  the 
city  government  for  the  establishment  of  new  parks  may 
soon  be  carried  into  execution.  There  will  be  three  of 
them :  One  on  the  Monti  Parioli,  bordered  by  the  Tiber, 
the  Anio,  and  the  Via  Salaria  and  Flaminia,  the  ground  for 
which  —  nearly  five  hundred  acres  —  has  already  been  pur- 
chased ;  the  second  on  the  ridge  and  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Janiculum,  half  of  which  is  already  opened  for  the  recre- 
ation of  the  public  ;  the  last,  approved  by  law  of  Parliament 
on  July  14,  1887,  will  be,  without  exception,  the  finest  park 
in  the  world,  provided  political  or  financial  difficulties  do  not 
interfere  with  its  construction.  This  Passeggiata  Archeo- 
logica,  as  the  movers  of  the  bill,  Professors  Baccelli  and 
Bonghi  have  named  it,  comprises  the  palace  of  the  Caesars, 
the  valleys  of  the  Forum  and  of  the  Colosseum,  the  baths  of 
Titus,  half  the  Coelian  hill,  with  the  temple  of  Claudius,  the 
picturesque  groups  of  S.  Gregorio,  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo, 
S.  Stefano  Rotondo,  the  Villa  Mattei,  the  vallis  Egerice, 
etc.,  the  baths  of  Caracalla,  the  ancient  necropolis  between 
the  Via  Appia  and  the  Via  Latina,  half  of  the  Aventine 
hill,  the  Circus  Maximus,  the  Forum  Boarium,  and  the 
mediaeval  fortress  of  S.  Balbina. 

To  conclude  this  long  Preface  I  must  observe  that  as  in 


xxviii  PREFACE 

all  human  controversies,  so  in  this  one  concerning  the 
transformation  of  Rome,  there  are  many  arguments  in  favor 
and  many  against.  The  impartial  judge  must  put  in  each 
plate  of  the  scales  what  has  been  gained  and  what  has 
been  lost,  and  must  weigh  the  matter  not  from  one  single 
point  of  personal  view,  but  from  the  general  point  of  view 
of  public  health,  cleanliness,  comfort,  art,  science,  history, 
and  archaeology.  Our  judgment  must  start  from  the  con- 
sideration that  works  of  improvement,  of  enlargement,  of 
transformation  are  absolutely  necessary  in  Rome.  We  all 
remember  how  difficult  it  was  to  move  or  drive  safely  about, 
under  the  old  rule,  on  account  of  the  narrow  and  winding 
character  of  the  streets.  Now  that  the  population  is  fast 
approaching  a  half  million,  how  could  we  live  and  move  in 
the  same  space  as  before,  without  running  serious  risks, 
even  risks  of  life  ?  There  were  quarters,  like  the  Ghetto 
and  the  Regola,  the  picturesqueness  of  which  was  the  direct 
produce  of  filth,  and  of  a  half-savage  state  of  moral  and 
material  lif e.  There  were  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  —  the 
main  sewer  of  the  city,  —  the  poisonous  effluvia  of  which, 
at  low  water,  affected  all  the  bordering  districts.  Can  we 
honestly  blame  the  city  government  for  their  efforts  to  im- 
prove this  shameful  state  of  things  ?  Can  we  blame  them 
for  the  embankment  of  the  river,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Ghetto  and  of  the  Regola,  for  the  widening  and  straighten- 
ing of  the  principal  thoroughfares,  especially  as  we  know 
that,  in  consequence  of  these  works,  the  health  of  the  city 
has  improved  wonderfully  ? 

My  opinion  is  that,  since  the  works  began,  we  have 
gained  far  more  than  we  have  lost :  it  appears  to  me  that 
those  who  have  so  strongly  denounced  the  proceedings  of 
the  municipality  of  Rome  act  like  the  miser,  who,  forgetful 
of  the  treasure  already  secured,  gets  into  a  fit  of  despair 


PREFACE.  xxix 

over  any  small  gain  which  escapes  his  grip.  We  must  re- 
member, finally,  that  in  every  great  undertaking  there  is  a 
period  of  transition,  which  is  exceedingly  disagreeable.  Let 
us  reserve  our  final  judgment  until  the  period  of  transition 
is  over,  and  the  undertaking  accomplished.  At  any  rate, 
if  there  is  a  class  of  people  that  has  no  right  to  complain, 
it  is  the  archaeological  brotherhood ;  because  never  before 
has  such  a  field  been  thrown  open  to  their  investigation, 
never  has  the  Roman  soil  yielded  such  a  magnificent  archae- 
ological harvest,  as  within  the  last  few  years. 

I  desire  to  express  my  obligations  to  Mr.  Edward  Robin- 
son of  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  for  the  kind 
service  which  he  has  rendered  me  in  superintending  the 
preparation  of  this  volume  during  the  process  of  its  manu- 
facture. The  distance  at  which  I  have  been  from  the  pub- 
lishers and  printers  has  been  greatly  lessened  by  his  most 
generous  interest  in  the  work. 

RODOLFO  LANCIANI. 


ANCIENT   ROME   IN   THE   LIGHT   OF 
RECENT   DISCOVERIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    RENAISSANCE    OF    ARCHAEOLOGICAL    STUDIES. 

VERY  few  students  are  aware  that  Cola  di  Rienzo,  the 
Roman  tribune  of  the  fourteenth  century,  is  the  real 
founder  of  the  modern  archaeological  school ;  and  that  to 
him  must  be  adjudged  the  credit  as  regards  the  renaissance 
of  classical  studies,  which  has  been  almost  exclusively  be- 
stowed on  Dante  Alighieri  and  Francesco  Petrarca.  They 
do  not  deserve  it.  Dante,  "  savio  gentil  che  tutto  seppe ; " 
Dante,  who  collected  in  his  wonderful  "  Divina  Comme- 
dia"  all  the  learning  of  his  age,  and  in  his  wanderings 
through  Italy  and  Southern  France  had  ample  opportuni- 
ties of  admiring  the  most  splendid  creations  of  Roman 
architecture,  once  only  alludes  to  antique  monuments  as  a 
subject  of  comparison  :  — 

"  Si  com'  ad  Arli  ove  '1  Rodano  stagna 
Si  com'  a  Pola  presso  del  Quarnaro 

Fanno  i  sepolcri  tutto  '1  loco  varo."  1 

Inferno,  ix.  112-115. 

1  Even  as  at  Aries,  where  stagnant  grows  the  Rhone, 
Even  as  at  Pola,  near  to  the  Quarnaro, 

The  sepulchres  make  all  the  place  uneven. 

LONGFELLOW'S  Translation. 


2     RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

This  is  a  similitude  derived  from  his  recollections  of  the  Ro- 
man cemeteries  of  Aries  and  Pola,  the  sarcophagi  of  which, 
white  as  fresh  snow,  were  reflected  in  the  blue  waters  of 
the  Rhone  and  of  the  Gulf  of  Quarnaro.  But  we  should 
look  in  vain  in  his  cantos  for  a  souvenir  of  the  amphi- 
theatres of  the  same  cities  of  Aries  and  Pola,  which  have 
come  down  to  the  present  age  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, and  which  he  must  have  seen  in  all  their  magnificence  ; 
neither  does  he  mention  the  Verona  amphitheatre,  on  the 
steps  of  which  he  had  so  often  sat  in  deep  meditation, 
lamenting,  — 

"  Com'  e  duro  calle 
lo  scendere  e  '1  salir  per  1'  altrui  scale." 

Not  less  silent  and  indifferent  does  his  Muse  remain  at 
the  sight  of  the  ruins  of  Rome.  One  episode  only  she 
drew,  not  from  Church  traditions,  as  it  is  commonly  be- 
lieved, but  from  a  genuine  antique  monument,  the  remains 
and  the  memory  of  which  have  long  since  disappeared.  I 
refer  to  those  fascinating  lines  in  which  he  describes  the 
meeting  of  the  poor  widow  with  the  Emperor  Trajan. 
I  quote  the  passage  in  Italian,  that  the  full  harmony  of  the 
verses  may  be  enjoyed,  —  a  harmony  which  can  scarcely 
be  preserved  in  a  translation  :  — 

"  Quiv'  era  stor'iata  1'  alta  gloria 
Del  roman  prince,  lo  cui  gran  valore 
Mosse  Gregorio  alia  sua  gran  vittoria. 

lo  dico  di  Traiano  imperatore  : 
Ed  una  vedovella  gli  era  al  freno, 
Di  lagrime  atteggiata  e  di  dolore. 

Dintorno  a  lui  parea  calcato  e  pieno 
Di  cavalieri :   e  1'  aquile  dell'  oro 
Sovr'  esso  in  vista  al  vento  si  movieno. 

La  miserella  infra  tutti  costoro 
Pareva  dir :  Signor,  fammi  vendetta 
Del  mio  .figliuol,  ch'  e  morto,  ond'  io  m'  accoro. 


RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCHJSOLOGICAL  STUDIES.     3 

Ed  egli  a  lei  rispondere  :  Ora  aspetta 
Tanto,  ch'  io  torni.     Ed  ella :   Signer  mio, 
Come  persona  in  cui  dolor  s'  affretta  — 

Se  tu  non  torni  ?  Ed  ei :  Chi  fia  dov'  io, 
La  ti  fara.    Ed  ella  :   L'  altrui  bene 
A  te  che  fia,  se  '1  tuo  metti  in  obblio  ? 

Ond'  elli :  Or  ti  conforta  :  che  conviene, 
Ch'  io  solva  il  mio  dovere  anzi  ch'  io  muova : 
Giustizia  il  vuole,  e  Pieta  mi  ritiene." 

Purgatorio,  x.  73-93.1 

The  bas-relief  described  by  Dante  as  representing  this 
lovely  episode  is  not  imaginary,  but  real ;  and  it  does  not 
belong  to  Purgatory,  but  to  this  world.  It  was  sculptured 
on  one  of  the  panels  of  a  triumphal  arch,  which  stood  in 
the  centre  of  the  great  square  in  front  of  Agrippa's  Pan- 
theon. The  bas-relief,  as  is  often  the  case  with  this  class 
of  commemorative  monuments,  represented  and  personified 
a  conquered  Nation  kneeling  and  begging  for  mercy  before 

1  There  the  high  glory  of  the  Roman  Prince 
Was  chronicled,  whose  great  beneficence 
Moved  Gregory  to  his  great  victory  ; 

'T  is  of  the  Emperor  Trajan  that  I  speak  ; 
And  a  poor  widow  at  his  bridal  stood, 
In  attitude  of  weeping  and  of  grief. 

Around  about  him  seemed  it  thronged  and  full 
Of  cavaliers,  and  the  eagles  in  the  gold 
Above  them  visibly  in  the  wind  were  moving. 

The  wretched  woman  in  the  midst  of  these 

Seemed  to  be  saying  :  "  Give  me  vengeance,  Lord, 
For  my  dead  son,  for  whom  my  heart  is  breaking." 

And  he  to  answer  her  :  "  Now  wait  until 

I  shall  return."     And  she  :  "  My  lord,"  like  one 
In  whom  grief  is  impatient,  "  shouldst  thou  not 

Return  ?  "     And  he  :  "  Who  shall  be  where  I  am 
Will  give  it  thee."    And  she  :  "  Good  deed  of  others, 
What  boots  it  thee,  if  thou  neglect  thine  own  ?  " 

Whence  he  :  "  Now  comfort  thee,  for  it  behoves  me 
That  I  discharge  my  duty  ere  I  move  ; 
Justice  so  wills,  and  pity  doth  retain  me." 

LONGFELLOW'S  Translation. 


4     RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

the  Roman  invader.  The  simple  and  inerudite  imagination 
of  the  Middle  Ages  gave  a  different  meaning  to  this  plain 
representation,  so  common  on  antique  coins  and  bas-reliefs ; 
it  was  supposed  to  commemorate  the  well-known  legend  of 
Trajan's  soul  rescued  from  damnation  at  the  request  of  S. 
Gregory  the  Great,  —  a  legend  which  is  still  believed  by 
the  Roumanians,  who  worship  Trajan  as  their  national  hero 
and  national  saint.  The  triumphal  arch  opposite  the  Pan- 
theon was  accordingly  called  the  Arch  of  Piety ;  a  hospi- 
tal close  by  was  called  the  Hospital  of  Piety ;  and  the 
name  is  still  attached  to  a  little  church  not  far  from 
the  Pantheon,  called  the  Madonna  della  Pieta.  The  arch 
was  destroyed  to  the  level  of  the  foundations  by  Pope 
Alexander  VII.,  Chigi,  in  order  that  its  marbles  might 
be  employed  in  his  restoration  of  the  portico  of  the  Pan- 
theon itself. 

It  would  be  useless  to  deny  or  excuse  the  ignorance  of 
Dante  in  this  branch  of  human  learning,  and  it  would  be 
equally  unjust  to  lessen  our  admiration  for  him  on  account 
of  that  ignorance.  The  science  of  archaeology  did  not 
exist  in  his  age,  and  he  cannot  be  blamed  if  he  was  ig- 
norant of  what  did  not  exist.  Many  years  had  to  elapse 
before  the  dawn  of  the  new  day  should  lighten  the  dark- 
ness of  mediaeval  science.  Even  the  most  powerful  intel- 
lects are  obliged  by  the  law  of  nature  to  proceed  by  slow 
degrees,  and  not  by  leaps.  In  the  literary  education  of  all 
nations  the  poetic  faculties  are  the  first  to  germinate  and 
blossom;  last  of  all  comes  the  culture  of  the  critic.  And 
archaeology,  founded  as  it  is  upon  accurate  investigation, 
upon  the  comparison  of  antique  monumeats  with  one  an- 
other, and  with  documentary  evidence,  written  and  en- 
graved, belongs  to  the  period  of  criticism. 

Dante  confined  himself  to  the  study  of  the  few  documents 


RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.     5 

which  were  known  in  his  age ;  he  increased  then:  number, 
and  his  work  was  carried  still  further  by  Francesco  Petrarca, 
to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  classical  texts,  discov- 
ered in  various  monastic  libraries  in  the  shape  of  manu- 
scripts and  palimpsests.  Still,  in  spite  of  his  love  and 
admiration  for  ancient  authors,  Petrarch  no  more  than 
Dante  deserves  the  praise  bestowed  on  him  by  Tiraboschi, 
of  having  been  the  first  student  of  archaeology  in  modern 
times.  We  know  that  at  great  expense  and  labor  he  had 
formed  a  small  collection  of  Roman  imperial  coins,  which 
he  offered  as  a  very  rare  present  to  Charles  IV.,  but  we 
doubt  whether  he  could  appreciate  their  historical  or  chro- 
nological value.  At  any  rate,  the  letters  on  ancient  and 
medieval  Rome  which  Petrarch  wrote  are,  from  an  archaeo- 
logical point  of  view,  monuments  of  ignorance.  He  calls 
the  baths  of  Caracalla  palatium  Antonini  ;  the  fountain  of 
the  Aqua  Julia,  cynibrum  Marii  ;  the  pantheon  of  Agrippa, 
templum  Cybelis.  He  refers  to  the  column  of  Trajan  as 
the  tomb  of  that  emperor ;  and  the  pyramid  of  Caius  Ces- 
tius  as  the  mausoleum  of  Remus,  brother  of  Romulus, 
although  the  title  and  nature  of  each  of  these  monuments 
were  carved  in  huge  letters  on  its  front.  To  explain  Pe- 
trarch's negligence,  Poggio  Bracciolini  has  supposed  that 
the  inscriptions  were  concealed  from  him  by  plants  growing 
in  the  joints  of  the  marble  blocks.  This  excuse  is  exces- 
sively poor  and  has  in  fact  no  foundation,  inasmuch  as 
these  inscriptions  were  seen  and  copied  by  Petrarch's  con- 
temporary and  friend,  Cola  di  Rienzo. 

According  to  his  biographer,  who  wrote  in  the  vernacular 
of  his  age,  —  producing  a  document  most  precious  as  show- 
ing the  transition  from  the  Latin  into  the  Italian  language, 
—  Cola  di  Rienzo,  born  in  1313,  became  in  early  youth  a 
strong  admirer  of  the  Roman  classical  authors,  especially  of 


6     RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

Livy,  Sallust,  and  Valerius  Maximus.  "  Every  day,"  says 
his  biographer,  "  he  would  walk  among  the  ruins,  scrutiniz- 
ing every  piece  of  sculptured  marble.  None  could  read  and 
decipher  inscriptions  better  than  he."  Yet  in  spite  of  his 
enthusiasm  for  the  antique  world  and  its  epigraphic  records, 
in  spite  of  the  admiration  for  Roman  grandeur  which  stirred 
his  soul,  Cola  di  Rienzo  cannot  be  cited,  as  his  biographer 
claims,  as  a  model  of  scientific  accuracy.  His  Latin  epis- 
tles are  written  more  in  the  style  of  the  Bible  than  in  the 
style  of  Sallust ;  and  as  regards  his  power  of  deciphering 
and  expounding  ancient  inscriptions,  the  only  evidence  we 
possess  does  not  speak  highly  in  his  favor.1 

Famous  among  ancient  epigraphic  documents  is  the 
bronze  tablet,  now  in  the  Capitoline  Museum,  containing 
the  lex  Regia ;  that  is,  a  copy,  engraved  in  bronze,  of 
the  decree  by  which  the  S.  P.  Q.  R.  conferred  on  Fla- 
vius  Vespasian  imperial  power,  and  the  power  of  life  and 
death.  This  tablet  had  been  employed  by  Pope  Boniface 
VIII.  in  the  construction  of  an  altar  in  S.  John  Lateran, 
and  it  was  set  in  the  wall  so  awkwardly  that  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  read  it.  Cola,  in  1346,  caused  it  to  be  re- 
moved from  its  obscure  hiding-place,  and  set  up  in  the 
middle  of  the  basilica.  There,  showing  it  to  his  country- 
men, he  was  wont  to  speak  fiery  words  on  the  rights  of  the 
people  to  select  their  own  form  of  government.  So  far,  so 
good.  But  when  he  begins  to  explain  the  text  of  the  docu- 
ment he  loses  his  way  and  treads  upon  treacherous  ground. 
.  The  paragraph  of  the  law  concerning  the  pomcerium,  that 
is  to  say,  the  right  bestowed  upon  Vespasian  to  enlarge 
the  boundaries  of  the  city  of  Rome,  is  interpreted  by  Cola 
as  if  pomcerium  meant  pomarium,  or  apple-orchard  ;  as  if 

1  A  complete  edition  of  Cola's  epis-     Gabrielli,  under  the   auspices   of  the 
ties   will  shortly  be  published  by  A.     Historical  Society  of  Rome. 


ROME  IN  THE  XIVTH  CENTURY. 

Miniature  in  the  Due  de  Berry's  "Livre  d'Heures." 

From  Miintz,  Les  Antiquites  de  la  Ville  de  Rome. 


RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.     1 

this  paragraph  spoke  of  Italy  as  the  garden  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  this  interpretation,  absurd 
as  it  is,  was  not  his  own,  but  was  traditional  in  the  Ghibel- 
line  party.  Dante  himself  had  already  styled  Italy  the 
giardin  deW  impero. 

These  unsuccessful  attempts  to  explain  ancient  texts  do 
not  lessen  the  title  of  Cola  to  our  gratitude ;  we  are  in- 
debted to  him  for  the  very  first  collection  of  Latin  epitaphs 
that  was  compiled  according  to  the  principles  of  modern 
science.  In  Prince  Chigi's  library  at  Rome,  in  the  Medi- 
cean  Library  at  Florence,  and  in  the  Public  Library  at 
Utrecht,  three  manuscript  copies  of  an  epigraphic  collection 
were  discovered  many  years  ago,  the  authorship  of  which 
was  attributed,  first,  to  Nicola  Signorili,  secretary  of  the 
Roman  Senate,  under  Pope  Martin  V.  Further  researches 
made  in  the  National  Library  at  Naples  led  to  the  discovery 
of  a  much  older  copy  of  the  same  book,  dating  from  the 
pontificate  of  Urban  VI. ;  that  is  to  say,  written  at  least 
seventy-five  years  earlier.  After  long  and  patient  investi- 
gation, the  original  copy  has  been  finally  discovered  in  the 
library  of  the  abbey  of  S.  Nicola  dell'  Arena  at  Catania. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  work  of  Cola  di  Rienzo. 
Its  materials  were  collected,  evidently,  between  1344  and 
1347.  At  that  period,  nobody  but  Cola  could  read  and 
copy  ancient  marbles  ;  the  book  is  consequently  his.  We 
shall  henceforth  admire  the  fierce  tribune,  not  only  as  a 
great  politician,  leader,  and  agitator,  but  also  as  an  archaBol- 
ogist,  great  for  his  age. 

We  must  now  pass  to  the  time  of  the  return  of  the  popes 
from  Avignon  to  Rome,  which  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
Renaissance,  —  the  beginning,  that  is,  of  the  most  glorious 
period  in  the  history  of  my  own  nation.  At  this  period, 
mediaeval'  Italy  had  disappeared.  A  new  element,  the 


8      RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

genius  of  the  ancient  world,  had  risen  in  its  glory,  and  had 
fascinated  the  higher  classes  of  society,  the  heads  of  the 
various  states  into  which  the  Peninsula  was  politically  di- 
vided, the  aristocracy,  the  fashionable  and  literary  circles, 
and,  in  a  more  modest  measure,  the  members  of  the  clergy 
and  of  monastic  orders.  That  mighty  genius  took  posses- 
sion at  once  of  the  field  of  art  and  science,  modified  the 
manners  and  the  education  of  the  higher  classes,  and  even 
shook,  for  the  time  being,  the  very  foundations  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  At  the  head  of  the  movement  marched  a  hand- 
ful of  scientific  men,  philologists  rather  than  archaeologists, 
better  known  under  the  name  of  the  Humanists.  They  be- 
came professors  in  the  universities,  they  won  confidential  po- 
sitions in  princely  houses  as  private  secretaries,  they  attached 
themselves  especially  to  the  princes  of  the  Church.  Their 
engagements  lasted  only  for  a  short  period,  sometimes  for 
six  months  only  :  thus  they  were  able  to  move  without 
intermission  from  town  to  town,  from  court  to  court,  from 
college  to  college,  multiplying,  as  it  were,  from  one  end  to 
the  other  of  the  Peninsula,  and  sowing  everywhere  the  seed 
which  was  to  bring  forth  such  magnificent  harvests. 

The  study  of  the  Greek  language  and  literature  was  the 
most  fashionable  of  all  studies :  hence  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury has  been  called  the  Golden  Age  of  Hellenism.  The 
beginning  of  the  following  century  saw  the  first  decline  of 
this  pursuit ;  under  the  Popes  of  the  Medici  family,  Greek 
had  already  left  public  life,  to  confine  itself  again  within  the 
precincts  of  cloisters  and  schools,  which  became,  and  are 
now,  I  regret  to  say,  its  last  insecure  shelter.  In  order  to 
obtain  able  masters  from  the  East,  especially  from  Byzan- 
tine schools,  fabulous  prices  were  offered  and  paid  to  those 
professors  who  were  willing  to  change  their  country ;  but 
the  capture  of  Constantinople,  May  29,  1453,  very  soon 


RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.      9 

dried  up  this  rich  source.  These  circumstances  enable  us 
to  understand  why,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
men  of  letters  and  women  of  the  upper  classes  could  easily 
converse  in  Greek  ;  whereas,  fifty  years  later,  the  same  lan- 
guage was  no  longer  spoken,  but  only  read,  and  was  totally 
forgotten  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

It  is  difficult  to  form  an  idea  of  such  a  powerful  move- 
ment towards  classical  studies ;  more  difficult  to  investigate 
its  causes.  We  can  explain  something  by  a  reference  to 
Fashion,  that  despotic  and  capricious  goddess ;  but  this 
will  not  explain  all.  Captivated  by  hitherto  unknown  fas- 
cinations, eager  to  tear  aside  the  veil  which  concealed  its 
mysteries,  the  Humanists  deified  and  idolized  archaeology, 
and  congregated  around  its  temple  to  partake  of  the  treas- 
ures of  science  which  had  been  kept  there  in  safe  conceal- 
ment since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Commonwealth,  more 
than  nine  centuries  before.  Many  conceived  the  hope  or 
labored  under  the  illusion  that  pagan  science  would  heal  the 
wounds  of  society ;  some  followed  the  movement  out  of  pure 
love  of  fascinating  inquiries,  others  from  curiosity  ;  the 
profanum  milgus  felt  the  contagion  of  example  and  fash- 
ion ;  the  higher  classes  hoped  to  find  in  ancient  philosophy 
the  consolations  which,  to  their  own  misfortune,  they  had 
ceased  to  expect  from  faith. 

Paganism  not  only  penetrated  the  domain  of  science,  but 
conquered  also  the  field  of  fine  arts,  although  this  last  was 
exclusively  and  absolutely  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
the  Church.  The  evidence  of  this  fact  is  to  be  found  every- 
where in  Italy,  in  churches  as  well  as  in  public  edifices  of 
Rome,  Florence,  and  Venice.  Those  genii  who  surround 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  holding  on  high  the  torch  of  life ;  those 
winged  classic  youths  who  are  meant  to  represent  angels  ; 
those  nymphs  whose  part  it  is  to  represent  the  holy  women 


10  RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

of  Christendom,  and  whose  immodest  forms  were  not  con- 
sidered out  of  place  in  a  church,  —  are  all  nothing  but  a 
revival  of  paganism  and  pagan  art.  Every  one  knows  that 
Daniele  da  Volterra  was  surnamed  "  il  Braghettone,"  or 
breeches  -  maker,  because  he  contrived  to  cover  the  most 
crude  nudities  of  Michael  Angelo's  "  Last  Judgment,"  and 
that  the  reclining  statue  of  Giulia  Farnese,  near  S.  Peter's 
chair  in  the  Vatican,  the  masterpiece  of  Guglielmo  della 
Porta,  was  clothed  by  Bernini  with  clothes  of  painted  lead. 
Giorgio  Vasari  asserts  that  Perugino  could  never  be  induced 
to  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  although  he  had 
devoted  all  his  life  to  painting  saints  and  madonnas. 

I  must  quote  here  an  incident  from  the  life  of  the  great 
Humanist  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Pomponius  Lsetus,  be- 
cause, owing  to  a  recent  discovery  made  in  the  catacombs 
of  S.  Calixtus,  on  the  Appian  Way,  we  are  able  to  solve  for 
the  first  time  a  mystery  connected  with  the  pagan  tenden- 
cies of  the  Renaissance.  Pomponio  Leto  founded  in 
Rome  an  academy  for  classic  studies,  to  which  the  most 
celebrated  literary  men  of  the  period  belonged :  Cardinal 
Platina,  the  historian  of  the  Church ;  Giovanni  Antonio 
Campano,  Bishop  of  Teramo ;  Pietro  Sabino,  professor  of 
epigraphy  in  the  University  of  Rome  ;  Marco  Antonio  Sabel- 
lico,  Pietro  Pallini,  and  many  others.  All  these  illustrious 
members  of  the  Roman  Academy,  either  because  they  had 
exchanged  their  Christian  names  for  names  of  pagan  he- 
roes, or  else  on  account  of  their  extravagant  worship  of 
ancient  philosophy  and  civilization,  were  stigmatized  by 
so-called  public  opinion  as  apostates  from  the  faith,  as  wor- 
shippers of  false  gods,  as  conspirators  against  the  authority 
and  the  life  of  the  Pope.  Imprisoned  and  chained  in  the 
Castle  of  S.  Angelo  by  order  of  Paul  II.,  a  religious  and 
political  action  was  brought  against  them  upon  the  charge 


RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.   11 

of  conspiracy  to  secure  the  supreme  pontificate  of  Rome  for 
their  master  and  president,  Pomponio  Leto.  Cardinal 
Platina  vindicated  the  innocence  of  his  colleagues,  and 
Pomponio  himself  addressed  to  the  court  of  Castle  S.  An- 
gelo  a  vigorous  speech,  the  original  of  which  is  preserved 
in  the  Vatican  archives.  The  lack  of  positive  evidence  and 
the  intervention  of  influential  friends  caused  them  to  be 
set  free ;  so  that  the  Academy  was  able  to  return  to  its 
work,  amidst  the  applause  and  with  the  help  of  cardinals 
and  prelates  of  the  Roman  Church. 

It  is,  no  doubt,  exceedingly  remarkable  that  the  evi- 
dence against  these  men,  sought  in  vain  by  Paul  II.  and  his 
judges,  should  have  come  to  light  only  a  few  years  ago,  and 
in  a  place  entirely  unsuspected.  In  the  course  of  the  exca- 
vations carried  on  by  my  illustrious  master,  Commendatore 
G.  B.  de  Rossi,  in  the  catacombs  of  Callixtus,  a  cubiculum,  or 
crypt,  was  discovered,  May  12, 1852,  in  the  remotest  part  of 
that  subterranean  labyrinth  which  had  been  used  by  Pom- 
ponio's  brotherhood  as  a  secret  place  of  meeting.  On  the 
white  plaster  of  the  ceiling  the  following  inscription  had 
been  written  with  the  smoke  of  a  tallow  candle  :  "  January 
16,  1475.  Pantagathus,  Mammeius,  Papyrius,  Minicinus, 
^Emilius,  Minucius,  all  of  them  admirers  and  investigators 
of  antiquities,  and  the  delight  of  the  Roman  dissolute  women, 
[have  met  here]  under  the  reign  of  Pomponius,  supreme 
pontiff."  Many  other  records  of  the  same  nature  have 
been  since  discovered  in  the  catacombs  of  SS.  Pietro  e  Mar- 
cellino  and  of  Praetextatus,  in  which  records  Pantagathus 
(Cardinal  Platina  ?)  is  styled  sacerdos  academics  Romance, 
and  Pomponius  again  sovereign  pontiff. 

It  is  evident  that  such  a  priesthood  and  such  a  pontificate 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Christian  hierarchy ;  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  difficult  to  determine  whether  we  have  to 


12  RENAISSANCE  OF  AECHMOLOGICAL   STUDIES. 

deal  with  a  more  or  less  absurd  pedantry,  or  with  a  solemn 
apostasy  from  the  Christian  faith  by  a  handful  of  disso- 
lute conspirators.  One  thing  only  is  certain  :  that  Pom- 
ponio  and  his  colleagues  were  very  wise  in  confiding  their 
secret  to  the  deepest  and  most  impenetrable  recesses  of  the 
Roman  catacombs.  One  line,  one  word  alone,  of  the  rec- 
ords which  have  been  discovered  by  us  four  centuries  later, 
made  known  in  proper  time  to  the  court  of  Castle  S.  An- 
gelo,  would  have  brought  their  heads  under  the  sword  of 
the  public  executioner. 

In  view  of  the  failure  to  prove  the  case  against  Pompo- 
nio,  it  is  no  wonder  that  of  all  the  popes  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  promoter  of  the  trial,  Paul  II.  (Pietro  Barbo 
of  Venice),  the  builder  of  the  Palazzo  di  Venezia  in  Rome, 
should  have  been  the  one  most  violently  attacked  by  the 
Humanists  and  the  rising  archaeological  school,  as  an  enemy 
of  the  grand  movement  of  the  Renaissance.  Nevertheless, 
documents  discovered  by  Eugene  Muntz  and  Constantino 
Corvisieri  prove  that  Paul  II.,  without  being  a  Humanist 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  loved  antiquity  and  its  mas- 
terpieces with  a  pa'ssionate  love,  and  did  his  best  to  favor 
the  development  of  classical  instruction.  He  reorganized 
the  University  of  Rome,  and  actually  struck  a  medal  for 
the  occasion,  with  the  legend  LJETITIA  SCHOLASTICA  ;  he 
helped  the  introduction  of  printing ;  granted  fifty  ducats 
to  the  old  archaeologist  Flavio  Biondo,  and  four  hundred  to 
Filelfo.  The  triumphal  arches  of  Titus  and  Septimius  Se- 
verus,  the  two  colossal  groups  on  the  Quirinal,  and  the  eques- 
trian statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius  were  restored  at  his  ex- 
pense ;  he  caused  the  porphyry  sarcophagus  of  S.  Constan- 
tia  (now  in  the  Hall  of  the  Greek  Cross)  and  a  basin  of 
green  serpentine  to  be  artistically  set  up  in  the  Piazza  di  S. 
Marco ;  removing  the  first  from  the  mausoleum  of  Costan« 


RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.   13 

tia,  near  the  second  milestone  of  the  Via  Nomentana,  the 
second  from  the  baths  of  Titus,  near  the  Colosseum.  He 
undertook  with  enthusiasm  one  of  the  favorite  plans  of 
Nicolas  V.,  the  removal  and  reerection  of  Caligula's  obe- 
lisk in  front  of  S.  Peter's.  The  work  of  transportation 
had  actually  been  begun  under  the  skilful  leadership  of 
Master  Aristotiles,  but  was  soon  after  given  up  on  account 
of  the  sudden  death  of  the  Pope. 

This  gifted  man  was  born  a  collector :  from  his  early 
youth  he  devoted  himself  to  searching  all  over  Italy  for  an- 
tique gems  and  coins,  and  Byzantine  stuffs  and  jewelry; 
disputing  the  possession  of  every  piece  with  his  competitors 
Charles  de'  Medici  and  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico.  The  passion 
for  antique  and  precious  works  did  not  abate  with  his  elec- 
tion to  the  pontifical  throne.  There  came  a  moment  when 
his  mania  rose  to  almost  heroic  proportions.  He  did  not 
scruple  to  lay  hands  on  miraculous  images  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  if  they  were  remarkable  or  curious  from  an  artistic 
point  of  view,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  one  preserved  in  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  in  Campitelli,  made  in  opus  sectile,  that 
is  to  say,  in  a  kind  of  Florentine  mosaic'  of  precious  stones. 
He  had  at  one  time  a  plan  for  removing  to  his  palace  the 
library  of  the  Benedictine  Abbey  of  Monte  Cassino ;  he 
offered  to  build  at  his  own  cost,  for  the  township  of  Tou- 
louse, a  bridge  across  the  Garonne,  in  exchange  for  a  single 
cameo.  As  regards  his  personal  appearance,  he  was  'in  the 
habit  of  dressing  with  unheard-of  magnificence.  He  was 
so  conscious  of  his  own  beauty  and  majestic  size  and  form, 
that  on  the  day  he  was  elected  Pope  he  actually  took  the 
name  of  Fonnosus  II.,  "  the  handsome,"  a  name  which  the 
unanimous  protest  of  the  Sacred  College  obliged  him  to 
exchange  for  the  more  religious  one  of  Paul.  No  consid- 
eration of  expense  could  deter  him  from  acquiring  for  his 


14    RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCH^OLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

personal  adornment  any  extraordinary  piece  of  jewelry  which 
might  be  brought  to  his  notice.  A  single  one  of  his  tiaras 
cost  him  the  enormous  sum  of  120,000  ducats  of  gold 
(more  than  six  millions  of  francs) ;  he  justified  this  ex- 
cess of  luxury  by  remarking  that  the  tiara  of  his  uncle, 
EugeniusIV.,  had  cost  38,000  gold  ducats,  the  "  ransom  of 
a  king." 

The  museum  in  his  Palazzo  di  S.  Marco  or  di  Venezia 
comprised  forty-seven  works  in  bronze  ;  two  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  cameos  ;  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  inta- 
glios, mostly  portraits  of  emperors  and  empresses ;  ninety- 
seven  gold  coins  and  one  thousand  silver  ones  (among 
which  two  were  forged) ;  ten  Byzantine  cameos,  a  respectable 
number,  if  we  consider  that  the  "  cabinet  des  medailles  "  in 
Paris  and  the  "  cabinet  imperial "  in  Vienna  contain  only 
an  equal  number  of  these  rare  productions  of  Eastern  glyptic 
art ;  twenty-five  Byzantine  mosaic  pictures,  more  than  all 
the  European  museums  put  together  now  possess  j  two  pic- 
tures in  stained  glass  ;  many  ivory  carvings ;  and  many 
antique  embroideries  in  silk  and  gold.  As  regards  the 
works  of  the  Renaissance  goldsmiths  and  the  silver  plate, 
the  figures  of  the  inventory  are  simply  astonishing.  Pearls, 
turquoises,  jacinths,  emeralds,  amethysts,  diamonds,  mostly 
mounted  in  rings  and  signets,  are  numbered  by  thousands. 
As  for  silver  plate,  I  shall  mention  only  two  wine-jugs  of 
exquisite  workmanship,  each  weighing  one  hundred  and 
ten  pounds. 

What  has  become  of  all  these  treasures?  There  is  no 
doubt  that  many  pieces  have  been  transferred  to  the  "  Sala 
delle  Pietre  Dure,"  in  the  Uffizi  at  Florence,  from  bequests 
and  legacies  of  the  Medici  family.  But  this  is  almost 
nothing  in  comparison  with  what  seems  to  be  lost.  Eugene 
Miintz  has  been  able  to  trace  the  existence  of  one  set  only, 


RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCH&OLOGICAL  STUDIES.   15 

from  the  museum  of  Paul  II.,  a  set  of  superb  nielli,  which 
belonged  originally  to  an  evangeliarium  offered  to  Paul  II. 
by  Cardinal  la  Balue.  In  1831,  half  of  these  nielli  were 
in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  half  in  the 
Galerie  Manfrin  in  Paris.  I  do  not  know  where  they  are 
now. 

In  view  of  such  exceptional  services  rendered  to  classic 
antiquities  by  Paul  II.,  who  can  honestly  condemn  him  for 
one  isolated  act  of  vandalism,  the  quarrying  of  blocks  of 
marble  and  travertine  from  the  Colosseum  ?  In  the  fifteenth 
century,  —  it  is  useless  to  deny  it,  —  the  Flavian  amphithe- 
atre was  considered  by  everybody,  whether  Humanists  or 
illiterate,  as  a  mere  quarry  of  stone  for  building  purposes. 
Nicholas  V.,  Pius  II.,  in  spite  of  their  laws  of  protection 
of  ancient  buildings,  knocked  down  arcade  after  arcade, 
without  the  slightest  scruple.  To  reproach  Paul  II.  for  hav- 
ing followed  their  example  would  be  historically  unjust,  since 
the  Colosseum  paid  the  ransom  of  so  many  other  antique  edi- 
fices, which  were  protected,  restored,  saved  from  destruction, 
by  him.  Let  us  reserve  the  severity  of  our  judgment  for 
those  who,  in  a  more  civilized  and  appreciative  age,  have 
destroyed  without  a  moment's  hesitation  the  finest  monu- 
ments of  Rome  :  for  Sixtus  V.,  who  at  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century  destroyed  the  Septizonium  of  Septimius  Se- 
verus ;  for  Paul  V.,  Borghese,  who  employed  the  marbles 
of  Minerva's  temple  in  the  Forum  Transitorium  to  build  the 
Borghese  Chapel  in  Santa  Maria  Maggiore  and  the  fountain 
of  the  Aqua  Paola  on  the  Janiculum ;  for  Alexander  VII., 
Chigi,  who  demolished  in  1662  the  triumphal  arch  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  on  the  Corso.  The  responsibility  of  Paul  II.  is 
very  light  indeed  in  comparison  with  the  responsibility  of 
others. 

The  brief  account  I  have  given  of  the  museum  collected 


16    RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

by  him  in  the  Palazzo  di  Venezia  (a  palace  the  architecture 
of  which  has  been  wrongly  attributed  to  Giuliano  da  Ma- 
iano  and  Baccio  Pontelli,  whereas  it  was  designed  and 
partly  executed  by  Meo  del  Caprino  and  Giacomo  di  Pie- 
trasanta)  leads  me  to  mention  another  subject,  of  which  lit- 
tle is  known  even  to  the  initiated,  —  the  subject  of  the 
collections  of  early  Italian  art  and  antiquities,  in  the  Re- 
naissance, from  its  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  one  class  only  of  antiquities 
seems  to  have  been  cared  for,  that  of  engraved  stones,  and, 
as  a  rule,  of  any  objects  the  materia  prima  of  which  is 
precious. 

Engraved  stones,  even  when  representing  profane  and 
immoral  subjects,  were  employed  in  the  ornamentation  of 
Church  implements,  such  as  chalices,  evangeliaria,  pontifical 
robes,  rings,  and  tiaras.  It  was  not  Italian  noblemen  or 
prelates  only  who  had  a  passion  for  accumulating  this  class 
of  valuables.  Charles  V.,  king  of  France,  owned  in  1380 
fifty-two  cameos ;  Charles  VI.,  in  1399,  one  hundred  and 
one.  In  1343,  Philippe  le  Bel  is  said  to  have  sent  to 
the  Pope  "  un  Joel  appele  le  camahieu."  Boniface  VIII., 
of  the  Caetani  family,  the  illustrious  contemporary  of 
Dante  and  Giotto,  possessed  from  forty  to  fifty  cameos ;  the 
catalogue  of  them,  dated  1295,  discovered  in  the  Biblio- 
theque  Nationale,  Paris,  is  remarkable  because  one  of  the 
reliefs  is  described  in  it  as  representing  Hercules,  an  iden- 
tification really  wonderful  for  such  an  age.  But  I  can 
give  an  instance,  far  earlier  than  this,  of  a  real  apprecia- 
tion of  antiquities.  I  speak  of  the  picturesque  mediae- 
val house  in  Rome  near  the  temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis 
and  near  the  Ponte  Rotto,  miscalled  sometimes  the  "  house 
of  Cola  di  Rienzo,"  sometimes  "  the  house  of  Pilate." 
The  building  was  erected,  in  fact,  by  Nicolaus  Crescen- 


RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.   17 

tins,  son  of  the  tribune  Crescentius,  and  was  built  mostly 
of  the  fragments  of  ancient  marble  edifices  and  bas- 
reliefs,  in  order  —  as  the  inscription  testifies  —  that  his 
contemporaries  might  appreciate  the  artistic  skill  of  their 
ancestors.  Arnaldo  da  Brescia,  the  reformer  of  the  twelfth 


The  House  of  Crescentius. 

century,  proclaimed  in  1150  the  necessity  for  rebuilding 
the  Capitol.  I  have  spoken  above  of  the  modest  set  of 
Roman  coins  offered  by  Francesco  Petrarca  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  IV.  at  Mantua,  in  1354.  This  set  was  by  no 
means  the  first  collected  in  Italy ;  Petrarch  had  been  pre- 
ceded by  another  numismatist,  Oliviero  Forza,  or  Forzetta, 
a  wealthy  citizen  of  Treviso,  who  must  be  considered,  if  not 
the  originator,  certainly  one  of  the  first  promoters  of  the 
new  tendencies,  and  of  the  new  artistic  and  archaeological 


18    RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

tastes.  His  inventory,  written  by  himself,  speaks  so  seri- 
ously and  freely  of  medals,  coins,  bronzes,  marbles,  en- 
graved stones,  and  manuscript  books  that  one  would  think 
it  written  fully  two  or  three  centuries  later. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  Florence, 
which  had  preceded  so  many  other  Italian  towns  in  the 
reform  of  literature  and  art,  showed  hospitality  within  its 
walls  to  the  most  remarkable  collections  of  the  time.  Ar- 
chitects, sculptors,  antiquarians,  worked  harmoniously  and 
simultaneously  towards  the  development  of  refined  tastes. 
The  names  of  the  three  greatest  Italian  masters  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  —  Filippo  Brunellesco,  the  creator  of  the 
dome  of  the  cathedral  of  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore  ;  Donatello 
(Donato  Bardi),  the  inimitable  sculptor  of  the  S.  George  on 
the  fagade  of  the  church  of  Or  S.  Michele  ;  and  Lorenzo 
Ghiberti,  the  designer  and  caster  of  those  bronze  doors 
of  the  Baptistery  which  Michaelangelo  considered  worthy 
of  being  the  doors  of  Paradise  —  are  strictly  connected  with 
this  archaeological  revival.  Brunellesco  and  Donatello,  dur- 
ing their  visit  to  Rome  in  1407,  spent  all  their  time  and 
leisure  in  measuring  ancient  buildings  and  in  excavating 
ruins  ;  so  much  so  that  they  were  nicknamed  by  the  popu- 
lace of  Rome  quelli  del  tesoro,  "  searchers  for  hidden 
treasures."  On  his  return  to  Florence,  Donatello  inspired 
his  protector,  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  with  his  love  and  passion 
for  antiques,  and  restored  with  his  own  masterly  hand  the 
statues  which  ornamented  the  mansion  of  the  noble  patri- 
cian. Lorenzo  Ghiberti  felt  even  a  deeper  sense  of  admira- 
tion for  ancient  statuary  and  gems.  The  commentaries  pub- 
lished by  Lemonnier  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Florentine 
edition  of  Vasari,  speak  eloquently  of  his  admiration  for  a 
statue  of  the  Hermaphrodite  discovered  in  Rome  under  his 
eyes,  for  a  statue  by  Lysippus  (?)  discovered  at  Siena,  for  an 


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RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.   19 

engraved  stone  belonging  to  Niccblo  Niccoli,  and  so  forth. 
To  him  was  entrusted  the  delightful  task  of  mounting  in 
gold  the  famous  cornelian  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  represent- 
ing Apollo  and  Marsyas,  and  it  is  touching  to  see  with  what 
sincere  enthusiasm  he  speaks  of  a  stone  and  of  an  engrav- 
ing the  subject  of  which  is  a  mystery  to  him. 

Poggio  Bracciolini,  of  Florence,  born  in  1380,  has  left 
interesting  records  of  the  ancient  marbles  which  he  collected 
during  his  travels  in  central  and  southern  Italy.  He  speaks 
of  a  room  in  his  museum  entirely  filled  with  busts,  all  nose- 
less save  one  ;  a  particular  which  shows  that  the  disfigure- 
ment of  statues  and  heads  is  the  work  of  the  Romans  of  the 
decadence,  and  not  the  work  of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  com- 
monly supposed.  I  must  quote  here  a  fragment  of  a  letter 
written  by  Poggio  to  one  of  his  learned  friends,  because 
he  speaks  of  his  acquisitions,  and  of  his  hopes  and  fears  as 
a  collector,  with  such  good  sense  and  enthusiasm  that  one 
would  be  ready  to  believe  the  letter  written  in  our  own 
days  by  Marchese  Campana  or  Alessandro  Castellani.  Pog- 
gio's  letter  makes  evident,  also,  the  fact,  almost  incredible, 
that,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Renaissance,  works  of 
art  were  collected  by  passionate  admirers,  even  from  the 
shores  of  Asia  Minor  and  from  the  islands  of  the  Greek 
archipelago.  "  I  received  yesterday  a  letter  from  Chios,  in 
which  my  correspondent,  Master  Francis,  of  Pistoja,  an- 
nounces that  he  has  secured  for  me  three  marble  heads, 
one  of  Juno,  one  of  Minerva,  one  of  Bacchus,  the  work  of 
Polycletus  and  Praxiteles  (as  he  says),  which  he  expects  to 
ship  at  once  to  Gaeta.  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of 
the  alleged  authorship  of  these  three  marbles.  Modern 
Greeks,  as  you  know,  like  large  talk,  and  in  this  instance 
I  suspect  them  to  have  mentioned  those  grand  names 
to  justify  an  exorbitant  demand.  I  hope  I  am  giving 


20  RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

voice  to  a  false  suspicion.  My  correspondent  says  that-  he 
bought  the  heads  from  a  certain  Caloiro,  who,  not  many 
months  ago,  discovered  in  the  deepest  recess  of  a  grotto  in 
the  same  island  of  Chios  about  one  hundred  marble  statues, 
of  marvelous  beauty  and  preservation.  Do  you  not  share 
my  wish,  in  hearing  of  these  wonders,  to  be  able  to  spread 
wings  and  fly  to  Chios  ?  " 

The  most  successful  and  liberal  Florentine  collector  of 
his  age  was,  beyond  doubt,  Niccolo  Niccoli,  a  simple  citizen, 
who  without  having  large  means  at  his  disposal,  by  skill 
and  perseverance,  and  with  the  help  of  such  friends  as  Am- 
brogio  Traversari,  of  Camaldoli,  and  Leonardo  d'  Arezzo, 
got  together  a  library  and  a  museum  which  formed  the 
pride  of  his  native  town.  Here  is  an  instance  of  the  sure- 
ness  and  perspicacity  of  his  coup  d'ceil  in  artistic  matters, 
which  is  described  in  the  life  of  Niccolo.  In  walking 
through  the  streets  of  Florence,  Niccolo  spied,  one  day,  a 
child,  from  whose  neck  a  chalcedony,  most  exquisitely  en- 
graved, was  suspended.  He  coaxed  the  boy  to  come  and 
speak  with  him ;  asked  the  name  of  his  father,  and  in 
what  place  they  lived.  The  next  day  he  offered  five  florins 
in  exchange  for  the  stone.  The  good  man,  having  never  in 
his  lifetime  seen  five  florins  at  once,  was  enchanted  with  the 
bargain,  and  Niccolo  became  thus  the  happy  possessor  of  the 
masterpiece.  However,  it  did  not  remain  long  in  his  hands. 
During  the  pontificate  of  Eugene  IV.,  the  Pope's  vicar,  hav- 
ing heard  of  the  famous  stone,  sent  for  Niccolo,  in  pass- 
ing through  Florence,  and  offered  him  two  hundred  gold 
ducats,  which  Niccolo,  not  without  hesitation  and  sorrow, 
decided  to  accept.  After  the  death  of  the  vicar,  the  stone 
was  bought  by  Paul  II.,  and  fell  ultimately  into  the  hands 
of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici. 

As  for  Rome  herself,  she  can   boast  of   having  had  a 


RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.  21 

museum,  not  of  small  objects,  however  precious,  but  a  mu- 
seum containing  the  grandest  productions  of  ancient  art,  at 
least  since  the  time  of  Charlemagne  and  the  ninth  century 
of  our  era.  The  museum  was  kept  in  and  near  the  Pope's 
palace  at  the  Lateran,  and  comprised,  first,  the  equestrian 
bronze  statue  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  now  on  the  Capitol, 
commonly  asserted  to  have 
been  found  between  the 
Scala  Santa  and  S.  Croce 
in  Gerusalemme.  It  was 
never  found,  because  it  was 
never  lost :  it  was  con- 
stantly kept,  after  the  fall 
of  the  Empire,  near  the 
Pope's  residence  at  the  Lat- 
eran, until  Paul  III.,  Far- 
nese,  caused  it  to  be  re- 
moved to  the  Piazza  del 
Campidoglio.  Besides  this 
colossal  bronze,  the  Late- 
ran museum  contained  the 
celebrated  Wolf,  which  is 
wrongly  asserted  to  have 
been  found  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  near  the 
church  of  S.  Teodoro ;  the  colossal  head  of  Domitian,  now 
in  the  courtyard  of  the  Palazzo  dei  Conservatori,  wrongly 
asserted  to  have  been  found  in  the  fifteenth  century  near  the 
basilica  of  Constantino ;  and  the  lex  Regia,  or  decree  by 
which  the  Senate  and  people  of  Rome  elected  Vespasian  as 
their  emperor,  a  document  which  I  have  already  mentioned 
in  speaking  of  Cola  di  Rienzo.  All  these  bronzes  were  re- 
moved to  the  Capitol  from  the  Lateran  by  Sixtus  IV.  The 


The  Wolf  in  the  Fifteenth  Century. 
From  the  Mirabilia  Urbis  Romce, 
Rome,  1499. 


22    RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

founding  of  the  Capitoline  museum,  considering  the  condi- 
tions of  the  age  and  the  elementary  state  of  general  culture, 
is  one  of  the  greatest  glories  of  Pope  Sixtus  IV.,  Riario  della 
Rovere,  and  exonerates  him  in  a  certain  measure  for  many 
acts  of  wanton  destruction  of  ancient  buildings  which  took 
place  under  his  pontificate.  The  museum,  solemnly  inaugu- 
rated on  December  14,  1471,  was  the  very  first  thrown  open 
to  the  public  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  It  contained  the 
boy  extracting  a  thorn  from  his  foot ;  the  Hercules  of  gilt 
bronze  discovered  in  the  Forum  Boarium ;  all  the  bronzes  of 
the  Lateran ;  the  Camillus,  which  was  then  called,  I  know 
not  why,  the  "  Zingara,"  or  Gypsy ;  a  marble  group  of  a 
lion  devouring  a  horse,  discovered  in  the  bed  of  the  river 
Almo;  the  cinerary  urn  of  Agrippina  the  elder,  wife  of 
Germanicus  and  mother  of  Caligula,  which  urn  had  been 
transformed  in  the  Middle  Ages  into  a  standard  measure 
for  grain,  rubiatella  di  grano  ;  the  bust  of  Brutus,  and  the 
marble  statue  of  Charles  d'Anjou.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
this  venerable  nucleus  of  the  Capitoline  collections,  a  truly 
national  glory,  should  have  been  dispersed  all  over  the  mu 
nicipal  palaces  of  Rome,  without  any  regard  for  the  mutual 
connection  of  the  various  pieces  in  the  history  of  art  and 
science,  or  for  the  memory  of  the  founder  of  the  museum, 
Sixtus  IV.,  whose  name  is  dear  to  all  who  appreciate  taste, 
refinement,  and  liberality.  The  Riario  della  Rovere  family 
is  certainly  one  of  the  most  sympathetic,  I  might  say  attrac- 
tive, families  of  the  Renaissance :  even  the  defects  and  the 
errors  of  some  of  its  members  have  their  bright  side,  and 
can  be  excused  on  account  of  their  very  magnitude.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  Pope  himself :  after  blaming  the  memory 
of  his  predecessor,  Paul  II.,  for  his  extravagant  luxury,  Six- 
tus IV.,  near  the  very  end  of  his  life,  orders  a  tiara,  worth 
110,000  gold  ducats.  As  for  his  nephew,  Pietro  Riario, 


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RENAISSANCE   OF  ARCH&OLOGICAL  STUDIES.  23 

whom  he  had  named  Cardinal  of  S.  Sisto  when  only  twenty- 
six  years  old,  with  a  yearly  income  of  60,000  ducats,  corre- 
sponding to  $600,000,  he  was  capable  of  spending  and 
squandering  during  the  two  years  of  his  cardinalship  not 
less  than  $2,800,000.  We  may  have  instances  in  our  own 
times  of  more  colossal  expenditures  ;  but  who  among  these 
modern  spendthrifts  could  boast  of  having  left  to  mankind 
such  souvenirs  as  those  left  by  the  Riarios  ?  —  the  Palazzo 
della  Cancelleria,  the  porch  and  convent  of  SS.  Apostoli, 
the  cloister  of  S.  Agnese  fuori  le  mura,  and  many  similar 
masterpieces  of  the  Renaissance. 

I  ought  now  to  mention  the  illustrious  group  of  the 
cinquecento  masters,  at  once  artists  and  archaeologists, 
whose  researches,  descriptions,  measurements,  and  drawings 
of  the  ancient  buildings  of  Rome  rank  among  the  finest 
documents  which  our  favorite  science  possesses.  These 
documents,  which  are  numbered  by  thousands,  each  more 
precious  than  the  other,  were  not  known  until  a  few 
years  ago.  Abeken,  the  editors  of  the  Florentine  edition 
of  Giorgio  Vasari,  and  Baron  Heinrich  de  Geymuller  had 
occasionally  mentioned,  or  actually  published,  some  samples 
of  the  collection ;  but  from  these  fragmentary  indica- 
tions we  had  conceived  the  idea  that  the  drawings  of 
the  cinquecento  masters  would  be  more  useful  to  illus- 
trate contemporary  than  antique  art.  As  an  instance  of 
the  generosity  with  which  archaeology  repays  from  time  to 
time  the  devotion  and  the  zeal  of  its  students,  as  an  in- 
stance of  the  healthy  joys  and  emotions  which  the  study  of 
the  ancient  world  is  capable  of  affording  to  the  initiated, 
I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  relate  a  personal  experience.  In 
spite  of  more  than  twenty  years  of  uninterrupted  research, 
both  in  the  active  and  the  speculative  field,  many  of  our 
Roman  ruins  were  still  an  enigma  to  me,  their  origin,  their 


24    RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCH&OLOGICAL  STUDIES. 

design,  their  history,  being  absolutely  unknown.  How  many 
hours  have  I  spent  before  and  around  such  antique  build- 
ings as  those  transformed  into  the  church  of  S.  Adriano, 
•of  SS.  Cosma  and  Damiano,  of  S.  Stefano  delle  Carozze, 
and  others,  trying,  like  (Edipus,  to  solve  the  mystery  of 
the  Sphinx,  to  snatch  the  secret  which  seemed  to  have 
been  buried  under  those  ruins  with  the  fall  of  the  Empire  ! 
After  giving  up  all  hope  of  success,  having  in  fact  classified 
these  buildings  as  "nameless,"  I  happened  one  day  to 
enter  the  department  of  drawings  and  engravings  in  the 
GaUeria  degli  Uffizi  at  Florence,  under  the  kind  guidance 
of  their  keeper,  Signor  Nerino  Ferri.  The  original  and  un- 
published architectural  sketches  of  Florentine  cinquecento 
artists  were  shown  to  me  as  a  simple  matter  of  curiosity.  I 
could  not  possibly  describe  what  I  felt  at  that  moment,  when 
I  saw  (at  once)  the  solution  of  nearly  every  topographical 
problem  pass  slowly  before  my  eyes,  in  the  shape  of  sketches 
taken  on  the  spot  when  those  monuments  were  first  exca- 
vated, three  or  four  centuries  ago,  and  taken  by  such  men, 
artists,  and  archaeologists  as  the  eight  Sangallos,  Baldassare 
and  Sallustio  Peruzzi,  Raphael  Sanzio,  the  two  Albertis, 
Bramante,  Sansovino,  Giovanni  Antonio  Dosio,  De  Marchis, 
and  so  on.  I  do  not  think  that  the  naturalist  who  discovers 
a  new  species  of  coleoptera,  the  chemist  who  discovers  a 
new  chemical  element,  the  astronomer  who  discovers  a  new 
asteroid,  can  feel  what  the  archaeologist  feels  under  the 
blessed  influence  of  such  important  and  utterly  unexpected 
discoveries.  When  my  master,  Commendatore  de  Rossi,  dis- 
covered in  the  Biblioteca  Marciana  at  Venice  the  famous 
codex  of  Pietro  Sabino,  he  spent  thirty-six  hours  in  devour- 
ing, as  it  were,  the  volume,  with  no  consideration  whatever 
for  food  or  rest,  and  did  not  leave  his  long-sought-for  prey 
until  he  actually  fainted  from  exhaustion.  Archaeology  is  a 


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RENAISSANCE  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  STUDIES.    25 

science  which,  different  from  others,  begins  at  once  to  repay 
the  zeal  of  the  student  with  deep  moral  satisfaction  without 
obliging  him  to  serve  a  dull,  tiresome  apprenticeship.  It  is 
a  science  so  noble  and  fascinating  that  it  helps  wonderfully 
to  form  the  character  of  intelligent  youths ;  and  so  protean 
in  form,  in  its  various  aspects  and  branches,  that  it  can  suit 
any  taste,  any  inclination.  It  is  true  that  its  study  requires 
the  spirit  of  enterprise,  plenty  of  means,  a  subtle  mind,  and 
constancy  of  application.  To  the  young  men  of  America, 
however,  to  whom  these  pages  are  especially  dedicated, 
these  elements  have  been  supplied  even  more  liberally  than 
is  the  case,  perhaps,  with  other  nations.  The  first  move- 
ments the  present  generation  has  made  in  the  archaeological 
field,  such  as  the  exploration  of  Assos,  the  contribution  to 
the  investigations  at  Naukratis,  the  institution  of  the  school 
at  Athens,  the  establishment  of  first-class  scientific  journals, 
and  the  like,  prove  that  American  students  bring  to  the 
antiquarian  field  the  same  amount  of  successful  enterprise 
which  has  made  them  take  the  lead  in  many  other  fields  of 
science.  Let  me  express  the  hope  that  the  account  of  our 
recent  discoveries  in  Rome  which  is  given  in  the  following 
chapters  will  confirm,  and  even  increase,  their  fancy  for 
these  noble  and  useful  pursuits,  and  entice  a  greater  num- 
ber of  bright  young  men  into  the  ranks  of  our  sympa- 
thetic brotherhood. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    FOUNDATION    AND    PREHISTORIC    LIFE    OF    ROME. 

IN  the  preface  to  his  beautiful  volume,  "  Ancient  Rome 
in  1885,"  Professor  Henry  Middleton  announces  the  discov- 
ery of  an  Etruscan  city  "  of  great  size  and  importance," 
said  to  have  existed  even  "  before  the  legendary  regal  period, 
on  one  of  the  largest  hills  "  of  Rome.  This  announcement 
has  been  made  popular  and  more  widely  known  by  the  com- 
ments published  in  English  literary  papers  and  reviews, 
especially  by  an  elaborate  criticism  in  the  "  Athenaeum  "  of 
February  6, 1886.  The  interest  raised  among  students  and 
amateurs  by  such  an  extraordinary  statement  can  be  easily 
understood.  The  existence  of  an  Etruscan  settlement  on 
the  ground  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Eternal  City  would 
not  only  give  "  a  serious  blow  to  the  long-established  tra- 
dition of  the  early  supremacy  of  the  Latin  race  "  on  the 
region  of  the  seven  hills,  but  would  also  upset  the  notions 
established  by  the  modern  school  regarding  the  origin  and 
early  history  of  Rome.  As  I  have  had  officially  the  charge 
of  scientific  investigations  in  the  area  of  the  new  quarters  of 
the  town,  on  the  Esquiline  and  Viminal  hills,  in  which  the 
alleged  discovery  would  have  taken  place,  and  as  I  have 
brought  to  light,  as  it  were  with  my  own  hands,  the  many 
thousand  objects  belonging  to  the  archaic  cemeteries  of 
those  same  hills,  upon  the  nature  of  which  this  new  theory 
of  a  pre-Roman  Etruscan  city  is  based,  I  may  be  allowed, 
I  hope,  to 'express  my  opinion  on  the  subject,  en  pleine 
connaissance  de  cause. 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 


27 


To  begin  at  once  with  the  conclusion,  I  say  that  nothing 
has  been  found  within  the  last  sixteen  years,  either  in  the 
new  or  in  the  old  quarters  of  Rome,  which  can  give  any 
foundation  to  Professor  Middleton's  theory.  What  has 
been  ascertained  confirms  fully  and  corroborates  with  addi- 
tional evidence  the  conclusion  at  which  modern  science, 
palaeo-ethnology  as  well  as  history,  had  already  arrived, 
namely,  that  Rome  was  founded  by  a  colony  of  shepherds 
from  the  Alban  hills,  on  ground  which  had  never  been 
occupied  permanently  before. 

Many  among  my  readers  will  recollect  with  delight  the 


Castel  Gandolfo. 


Monte  Crescemio.      Monte  Cucco. 


**, 


Castel  Gandolfo  and  the  Alban  Hills. 


drive  taken  from  Frascati  to  Castel  Gandolfo  and  Albano, 
following  the  rim  of  the  volcanic  crater,  which  age  has 
transformed  into  a  lake,  the  Lago  di  Castello,  one  of  the 
loveliest  sheets  of  water  in  the  world.  On  one  side  of  the 
road,  the  precipitous  cliffs  descend  almost  perpendicularly 
far  below  the  level  of  the  deep  greenish  water ;  on  the 
other  side,  the  mountain  slopes  more  gently  toward  the 
ancient  Appian  Way  and  toward  the  blue  Tyrrhenian,  un- 
dulating in  rich  pasture  lands  which  are  called  the  "  Pasco- 
lare  di  Castello."  It  was  precisely  here,  in  the  Pascolare  di 
Castello,  that  in  the  early  spring  of  1817  a  discovery  took 
place,  which,  despised  and  neglected  at  the  time,  is  now  con- 
sidered to  be  the  most  important  ever  made  in  connection 


28 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 


with  the  foundation  and  early  history  of  Rome.  Some 
peasants  of  the  neighborhood,  having  decided  to  plant  new 
vineyards  on  the  Monte  Cucco  and  Monte  Crescenzio,  the 
highest  hills  of  the  Pascolare,  cut  a  trench  many  yards  long 
and  four  feet  wide,  to  investigate  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
and  determine  whether  it  would  prove  adapted  to  the  culti- 
vation of  the  grape. 


Humus 
Lavs 


Section  of  Trench. 

First  of  all  comes  a  stratum  of  modern  vegetable  soil, 
humus,  fourteen  inches  thick ;  in  the  second  place,  a  stra- 
tum, thirty-six  inches  thick,  of  the  hardest  kind  of  pepe- 
rino,  which  is  a  volcanic  stone  produced  by  the  mixture 
of  greenish  ashes  with  hot  water ;  in  the  third  place,  an  ex- 
ceedingly narrow  line  of  fossil  vegetation.  Then  follows  a 
bed,  about  fifty  inches  thick,  of  yellowish  volcanic  ashes ; 
and  underneath,  other  more  or  less  compact  volcanic  mat- 
ters, such  as  lapilli,  tufa,  and  again  ashes  and  peperino. 
Taking  into  consideration  only  the  four  upper  strata,  it  is 
evident  that  after  the  eruption  of  yellowish  ashes  a  long 
period  of  comparative  tranquillity  must  have  elapsed,  during 
which  plants  and  grass  could  grow  and  vegetate  abundantly 
on  the  surface  of  the  ashes.  Then  another  eruption  of  lava 
followed,  which  was  evidently  the  last  of  its  kind  in  this  dis- 
trict of  the  Pascolare,  but  not  the  last  in  the  history  of  the 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE    OF  ROME. 


29 


Alban  craters.  The  discovery  above  alluded  to  took  place 
in  the  bed  of  yellowish  ashes  immediately  under  the  lava. 
Here  began  to  appear  to  the  astonished  eyes  of  the  peasants 
hand -made  and  sun-dried 
jars,  of  an  exceedingly  rough 
kind  of  terra  cotta,  each  one 
containing  one  of  those  vases 
shaped  like  a  prehistoric  hut, 
which  have  been  accordingly 
called  by  Sir  John  Lubbock 
hut  -  urns.  Each  hut  -  urn 
contained  the  remains  of  an 
incinerated  body,  with  fib- 
ulae and  other  objects  in  am- 
ber and  bronze,  and  it  was 
surrounded  by  vases  and 
utensils  of  every  shape  and 
description. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  find  spread,  it  was  met  at 
first  with  incredulity ;  the  superstition  of  the  peasant  was 
also  aroused,  as  if  the  evil  spirit  himself,  or  a  supernatural 
power,  had  accomplished  the  deed  of  concealing  treasures 
in  the  thickness  of  a  virgin  rock.  But  when  the  news 
reached  the  ears  of  the  authorities  and  of  scientific  men, 
a  legal  compte-rendu  of  the  discovery  was  drawn  by  the 
hand  of  a  public  notary,  and  Alessandro  Visconti  was 
asked  to  illustrate  it  from  an  archaeological  point  of  view. 
In  Visconti's  pamphlet,  Sopra  alcuni  vasi  sepolcrali  rinve- 
nuti  nelle  vicinanze  dell'  antica  Alba  Longa,  the  true  ex- 
planation of  the  mystery,  wonderful  to  say,  is  given  at 
once.  He  describes  the  jars  as  cinerary  urns  buried  by  vol- 
canic eruptions,  but  fails  to  trace  any  connection  between 
this  fossil  cemetery  and  Alba  Longa  and  Rome. 


Hut-Urn,  in  the  Vatican  Museum. 


30  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

Tambroni,  who  wrote  a  Letter  a  intorno  alle  urne  cineraric 
dissotterrate  nel  Pascolare  di  Castel  Gandolfo,  suggested 
the  idea  that  the  cemetery  belonged  to  barbaric  warriors  of 
the  fifth  century  of  our  era  ;  the  learned  Due  de  Blacas 
came  back  to  Visconti's  opinion,  modifying  it  according  to 
his  own  judgment ;  and  finally,  Giuseppe  Ponzi,  the  late 
leader  of  Italian  geologists,  decided  that  the  vases  had  not 
been  buried  by  the  lava  eruptions,  but  had  been  introduced 
under  the  lava  bed  from  a  Roman  road  which  crosses  the 
Pascolare  close  by. 

The  controversy  was  finally  settled  in  May,  1867,  fifty 
years  after  its  origin,  by  a  committee  composed  among 
others  of  Professors  Ponzi,  De  Rossi,  and  Pigorini.  They 
broke  the  crust  of  lava  in  many  places,  and  succeeded  in  dis- 
covering jars  and  smaller  pottery  under  the  same  conditions 
as  those  described  by  Alessandro  Visconti.1  The  scientific 
results  of  the  inquiry  were  far  more  important.  It  was 
determined  that  traces  of  the  work  of  man  are  to  be  found 
all  over  the  northwest  spurs  of  the  Alban  hills,  and  around 
the  craters  of  Castello,  Valle  Marciana,  and  other  volcanoes  ; 
in  the  second  place,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  grass  which 
grew  in  the  period  between  the  last  two  (ash  and  peperino) 
eruptions  was  the  lolikm  perenne,  the  shape  of  the  leaves  and 
stems  being  still  visible  against  the  lower  surface  of  the 
peperino ;  in  the  third  place,  that  the  district  inhabited  by 
the  population  to  which  the  cinerary  urns  belong  stretched 
between  the  famous  caput  aquce  Ferentince,  in  the  Parco 
Colonna  at  Marino,  and  the  cliffs  of  Palazzolo,  the  supposed 
site  of  Alba  Longa,  remains  of  square  huts  with  hard  black- 
ened floor,  traces  of  coal  and  domestic  utensils,  having  been 
found,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of  springs  of  pure 
drinkable  water.  In  the  fourth  place,  it  was  ascertained  that 

1  I  myself  successfully  tried  the  same  experiment  in  the  summer  of  1886. 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  31 

the  inhabitants  of  the  slopes  of  the  Alban  volcanoes  carried 
on  a  brisk  traffic  with  their  more  civilized  neighbors,  the 
Etruscans ;  many  specimens  of  Etruscan  or  Italo-Greek  pot- 
tery, of  a  beautiful  archaic  pattern,  having  been  found  scat- 
tered on  the  floor,  not  only  of  tombs,  but  also  of  the  square 
huts.  It  follows,  evidently,  from  these  facts,  not  only  that 
the  Alban  shepherds,  of  a  well-to-do  sort,  imported  foreign 
earthenware,  but  also  that  local  manufacturers  tried  to 
imitate  the  shape  and  the  style  of  the  imported  speci- 
mens by  moulding  their  rough  cups  and  flasks  with  a 
certain  degree  of  approximation.  Finally,  it  was  deter- 
mined that,  although  the  use  of  iron  may  have  been  known 
in  this  district  before  the  total  extinction  of  the  craters,  no 
iron  is  to  be  found  inside  or  near  the  cinerary  urns  above 
described.  The  tombs  consequently  belong  to  the  prehis- 
toric age  of  bronze. 

What  are  the  consequences  to  be  drawn  from  the  discov- 
ery of  this  geological  Pompeii  on  the  Alban  hills  ?  Let  us 
compare  the  data  concerning  the  history  of  the  Latin  vol- 
canoes with  the  earliest  traditional  accounts  of  Alba  Longa 
and  Rome.  If  we  could  trust  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus, 
who  describes  Alba  Longa  as  lying  between  the  foot  of 
Monte  Cavo  and  the  lake,  near  the  modern  Palazzolo,  we 
ought  to  place  the  extinction  of  the  Castello  craters  at  a  very 
remote  period,  before  the  first  appearance  of  mankind  in 
Central  Italy.  It  is  impossible,  in  fact,  to  suppose  that  men 
would  willingly  and  permanently  settle  within  a  few  thou- 
sand feet  from  the  mouth  of  a  very  active  volcano.  But 
students  familiar  with  Dionysius  will  easily  recognize  that 
he  describes  the  site  of  Alba  as  it  appeared  in  his  own  age, 
not  as  it  was  in  prehistoric  times.  One  crater  only  was  in 
full  activity  during  and  after  the  foundation  of  Alba,  the 
crater  of  Monte  Pila ;  its  position,  however,  is  such  that  a 


32  PREHISTORIC  LIFE    OF  ROME. 

town  at  Palazzolo  is  absolutely  out  of  reach  of  a  direct 
lava  eruption,  although  it  may  have  been  exposed  to  indi- 
rect havoc  and  danger  from  earthquakes  and  showers  of 
ashes.  Alba  Longa  was  much  safer  than  Nicolosi  is  now 
on  Mount  Etna,  or  S.  Sebastiano  on  Mount  Vesuvius.  (See 
the  accompanying  map.)  There  is  no  possibility  of  denying 
the  continuation  of  volcanic  action  long  after  the  founda- 
tion of  Alba  Longa  and  Rome,  during  the  period  of  the 
kings.  Livy  speaks  so  often,  so  minutely,  and  so  exactly  of 
eruptions,  of  showers  of  pumice-stones  and  ashes,  of  boati, 
or  subterranean  thundering  noises,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
resist  his  overwhelming  evidence.  The  historian  describes 
the  eruptions  with  the  phrase,  In  monte  Albano  lapidibus 
pluit  —  A  rain  of  stones  fell  on  the  Alban  hills.  Sometimes 
he  adds  fuller  particulars  ;  In  monte  Albano  biduum  con- 
tinenter  lapidibus  pluit  —  For  two  consecutive  days  and 
without  intermission  the  shower  of  pumice-stones  lasted. 
He  picturesquely  calls  the  "  boati  "  vox  ingens  e  luco  et  e 
summo  montis  cacumine  —  a  supernatural  voice  from  the 
woods  which  clothe  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  Is  it 
possible  to  suppose  that  so  many  characteristic  circum- 
stances should  be  a  creation  or  a  fiction  of  the  historian's 
fancy  ?  His  accounts  are  proved  absolutely  correct  by 
a  decisive  argument.  In  the  early  religion  of  Rome,  there 
was  a  special  ceremony  to  be  performed,  according  to  a  pre- 
scribed ritual,  every  time  an  eruption  was  announced  from 
the  Alban  hills :  Quoties  idem  prodigium  in  monte  Al- 
bano nunciaretur,  ferice  per  novem  dies  agerentur.  This 
religious  practice  shows  how  frequent  and  common  phe- 
nomena of  a  volcanic  nature  were  in  Latium  during  the 
first  centuries  of  Roman  history. 

I  have  now  to  bring  evidence  on  three  different  points, 
to  which  allusion  has  briefly  been  made  above.     I  have  to 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  33 

demonstrate,  first,  that  Rome  was  built  by  colonists  from 
Alba  Longa;  secondly,  that  these  colonists  were  simple 
shepherds ;  thirdly,  that  the  foundation  of  Rome  dates  from 
the  age  of  bronze,  and  was  caused  by  the  necessity  felt  by 
the  Alban  shepherds  to  escape  from  the  threatening  neigh- 
borhood of  the  volcano. 

From  these  facts,  duly  verified  and  established,  will  fol- 
low the  consequence  that  the  Etruscans  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  foundation  of  Rome,  and  that  the  theory  proposed 
by  Professor  Middleton  is  not  based  upon  the  evidence  of 
recent  discoveries. 

As  regards  the  first  point,  we  have  in  our  favor  early 
Roman  traditions  and  the  unanimity  of  early  annalists  and 
historians ;  although,  of  course,  their  evidence  must  be  ac- 
cepted with  caution  and  with  a  certain  degree  of  skepticism. 
Let  me  repeat  what  Livy  remarks  in  the  magnificent  pref- 
ace to  his  history  :  "  Whatever  tradition  reports  regarding 
the  origin  of  Rome  is  to  be  taken  rather  as  a  poetical  le- 
gend than  as  true  history.  We  cannot  condemn  our  an- 
cestors, if,  by  mingling  human  and  supernatural  events, 
they  gave  an  almost  divine  origin  to  their  city.  At  any 
rate,  if  there  is  a  people  in  the  world  which  may  claim 
and  boast  a  direct  descent  from  the  gods,  and  can  actually 
call  Mars  its  founder  and  forefather,  it  is  certainly  the 
people  of  Rome,  which,  exchanging  the  shepherd's  staff  for 
the  warrior's  sword,  has  subjected  the  entire  world  to  its 
rule." 

It  would,  of  course,  be  impossible  to  discuss  in  the  com- 
pass of  a  single  chapter  the  general  question  of  the  credi- 
bility of  early  Roman  history.  We  are  already  far,  thank 
Heaven,  from  the  period  in  which  it  was  fashionable  to  fol- 
low the  exaggerations  of  that  famous  hypercritical  school 
which  denied  every  event  in  Roman  history  previous  to 


34  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

the  second  Punic  war.  Late  discoveries  have  brought  forth 
such  a  crushing  mass  of  evidence  in  favor  of  ancient 
writers,  and  in  support  of  their  reports  concerning  the 
kingly  period,  that  every  detail  seems  to  be  confirmed  by 
monumental  remains.  In  our  younger  days,  when  we  were 
stepping  for  the  first  time  over  the  threshold  of  an  archaeo- 
logical school,  we  used  to  scorn  the  idea  that  a  real  Romu- 
lus had  existed,  and  that  such  was  the  name  of  the  builder 
of  Rome.  Philological  researches  have  shown  that  the  name 
of  Romulus  is  a  genuine  one,  and  that  it  belongs  to  the 
builder  of  Rome,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  general  spirit  of  modern  criticism  has  been 
unreasonably  skeptical  and  unduly  captious  with  respect  to 
early  Roman  history  ;  any  further  attempt  to  diminish  or 
to  lessen  the  value  of  its  traditional  sources  must  henceforth 
be  absolutely  unsuccessful.  What  does  tradition  say,  under 
the  guise  of  poetical  myth  and  legend,  of  the  meeting  of 
Rhea  Sylvia  with  Mars,  and  of  the  exposure  of  the  twin 
infants  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  at  the  foot  of  the  Pala- 
tine hill?  Nothing,  except  that  the  leader  of  the  new 
group  of  settlers  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  was  a  man  from 
Alba,  and  a  man  of  high  birth,  connected  with  the  royal 
house  of  the  Sylvii.  The  various  and  sometimes  absurd 
versions  of  the  event  agree  always  on  these  two  points,  and 
we  cannot  be  blamed  if  we  accept  them  as  historical  truth. 
The  legend  of  Rhea  Sylvia,  the  vestal  virgin,  the 
daughter  of  the  kings,  led  into  temptation  by  Mars,  in- 
spired many  artists,  whose  masterpieces  have  come  down  to 
us  intact.  I  shall  mention  one  only,  of  comparatively  recent 
discovery,  a  marble  altar  found  at  Ostia,  in  the  office  of  the 
corporation  of  the  Sacomarii,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Area 
Cereris  (the  square  surrounding  the  temple  of  Ceres). 
On  the  opposite  page  is  a  sketch  of  this  lovely  piece,  which 
dates  from  the  time  of  Hadrian. 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 


35 


For  the  second  point  ascertained  in  connection  with  the 
building  of  Rome,  namely,  that  the  colonists  from  Alba 
Longa,  the  settlers  on  the  Palatine  were  simple  shepherds, 


Marble  Altar  found  at  Ostia. 

we  have  to  resort  to  philological  arguments,  which,  how- 
ever, are  so  powerful  and  convincing  that  not  a  trace  of 
doubt  will  be  left  on  the  mind  of  the  reader. 

The  oldest  and  most  venerable  sanctuary  of  kingly  Rome 
was  the  Lupercal,  a  grotto  consecrated  by  the  emigrants 
from  Alba  to  Faun,  called  Luperciis  ;  that  is  to  say,  the 


36  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME 

"  driver-away  of  wolves  "  and  the  protector  of  herds.  This 
grotto,  through  which  an  icy  crystalline  spring  flowed  into 
the  green  field  below,  opened  under  the  northwest'  spur  of 
the  Palatine.  On  February  15,  it  was  the  centre  of  great 
rejoicings  and  of  religious  ceremonies  called  the  Lupercalia, 
during  which  the  head  shepherds,  clothed  with  skins,  used 
to  run  around  the  precincts  of  their  Palatine  village,  asking 
the  protection  of  Faunus  Lupercus  on  their  flocks  of  sheep. 
These  Lupercalia  show  clearly  what  was  the  condition  of 
the  founders  of  Eome :  they  were  shepherds.  I  may  re- 
mark also  that  this  worship  of  Lupercus  was  so  deeply 
rooted  in  Rome  that  it  was  the  very  last  to  die  out,  in  the 
fight  between  Christianity  and  pagan  superstition.  Traces 
of  it  have  been  found  as  late  as  the  end  of  the  fifth  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  under  the  pontificate  of  Pope  Gelasius. 
It  is  evident  from  what  I  have  said  that  the  pasture 
grounds  on  the  Alban  hills  having  become  inadequate  to 
support  the  increased  number  of  flocks,  or  having  become 
insecure  in  consequence  of  violent  volcanic  eruptions,  which 
followed  a  long  period  of  calm,  a  certain  number  of  owners 
of  cattle  assembled,  and  decided  to  migrate  into  a  richer, 
larger,  and  more  secure  district.  The  luxuriant  plains 
which  stretched  from  the  foot  o£  the  hill  to  the  shore 
of  the  blue  Tyrrhenian  naturally  attracted  their  attention. 
The  migration  began  by  exceedingly  slow  stages ;  the  shep- 
herds advanced  through  the  green  fields  until  a  mighty 
river  stopped  their  journey,  and  obliged  them  to  settle  on  its 
banks.  Here  they  found  a  hill  surrounded  by  almost  in- 
accessible perpendicular  cliffs,  and  protected  besides  by  a 
circuit  of  deep  marshes ;  here  they  found  springs  of  pure 
water  in  a  grotto  which  they  dedicated  at  once  to  Faun,  the 
god  of  the  shepherds ;  here,  accordingly,  they  settled  and 
built  a  village,  or  rather  a  huge  sheepfold.  Such  was  the 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  37 

origin  of  Rome ;  such  has  been  the  origin  of  many  other 
prehistoric  settlements,  which  in  process  of  time  have 
taken  a  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Thus 
the  central  village  of  the  Edomites,  in  the  plains  of  the 
Hauran,  was  named  Bozrah,  and  Bozrah  means  a  "  fortified 
sheepfold."  The  hill  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  which 
harbored  the  Alban  emigrants  and  their  flocks,  was  named 
the  Palatium  or  Palatinus  mons.  The  root  of  this  name 
is  Pales,  the  goddess  of  shepherds,  the  pastorum  dea,  whose 
feast,  called  Paliliae,  fell  on  April  the  21st.  Such  was  the 
importance  of  Pales  for  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the 
Palatine  that  the  date  of  her  festival,  the  21st  of  April, 
has  been  universally  accepted  and  recognized  for  the  last 
twentv-five  centuries  as  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  Rome 

•I 

itself,  and  we  modern  Romans  are  proud  to  keep  it  as  a  great 
national  day,  since  very  few  celebrations  are,  like  ours,  two 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty  years  old. 

The  fortified  sheepfold  or  inclosure  on  the  Palatine  had 
a  gate  named  Mugonia ;  the  root  of  the  name  is  muffire, 
the  mooing  of  cattle.  In  the  worship  of  their  gods,  the 
men  of  the  Palatine  used  milk  for  the  sacred  libations. 
Could  a  more  conclusive  chain  of  evidence  be  desired  ? 

The  mighty  river  which  washed  the  foot  of  the  Palatine 
had,  at  that  remote  period,  no  special  name ;  it  was  called 
Rumon,  which  means  simply  "  a  stream,  a  river."  The  in- 
habitants of  the  surrounding  villages,  which  were  mostly 
perched  on  high  hills  and  mountains,  Tusculum,  Aricia, 
Alba,  Tibur,  Praeneste,  having  entered  into  commercial 
communications  with  the  new  settlement,  began  to  name  it 
from  its  most  prominent  topographical  feature,  from  its  con- 
nection with  the  Rumon  or  river :  they  called  it  Roma, 
which  means  the  "  town  of  the  river,"  the  "  Stromstadt,"  as 
Professor  Corssen  has  literally  translated  the  word;  they 


38  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

called  the  leader  of  the  settlement  Romulus,  which  means 
"  the  man  from  the  town  of  the  river." 

All  that  I  have  said  is  so  simple  and  matter  of  fact  that 
it  conveys  persuasion  at  once,  as  plain  truth  always  does. 
But  if  another  argument  is  required  to  prove  that  the  names 
Roma  and  Romulus  are  derived  from  the  aboriginal  word 
Rumon  or  stream,  here  it  is  at  hand.  The  gates  of  a  town 
are  not  denominated  from  the  town  to  which  they  belong, 
but  from  the  place  to  which  they  lead.  Thus  some  of  the 
gates  of  Rome  were  named  Tiburtina,  Praenestina,  and  Os- 
tiensis,  because  the  roads  issuing  from  them  led  respect- 
ively to  Tibur,  to  Praeneste,  and  to  Ostia.  One  of  the 
gates  of  the  early  Alban  settlement  on  the  Palatine  hill  was 
called  "  Romana."  It  is  evident  that  the  name  was  given 
to  the  gate,  not  from  the  settlement  itself,  but  because  it 
led  to  the  Rumon  or  river.  And  when  the  walls  of  the 
city  were  enlarged  by  Servius  Tullius,  the  new  gate  leading 
to  the  river  was  likewise  named  Flumentana. 

As  to  the  epoch  in  which  the  foundation  of  Rome, 
this  greatest  event  in  the  history  of  mankind,  took  place,  it 
was,  chronologically  speaking,  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty- 
fourth  year  before  Christ ;  prehistorically  speaking,  it  was 
the  age  of  bronze. 

The  state  of  the  ancient  world  in  the  year  754  B.  c.  was 
as  follows :  Egypt  was  ruled  by  the  twenty-fourth  Saitic  dy- 
nasty, the  last  king  of  which,  named  Bokenranf  by  the 
Egyptians,  Bokkoris  by  Herodotus,  was  captured  and  burnt 
alive  by  the  Ethiopian  invader  Shabak,  sixteen  years  only 
after  the  foundation  of  Rome.  Assyria  was  ruled  by  King 
Assurdanil,  of  the  second  dynasty,  and  was  suffering  a 
temporary  decadence,  which  is  figured  in  the  legend  of  a 
first  destruction  of  Nineveh  and  in  the  legend  of  King 
Sardanapalus.  Oziah  was  king  of  Judah,  and  Zachariah 


SITE  OF  THE  PORTA  ROMANA. 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  39 

(the  fifth  and  last  sovereign  of  the  house  of  Jehu,  after- 
wards murdered  by  Shallum)  was  king  of  Israel.  The 
throne  of  China  was  occupied  by  the  dynasty  of  the  Cehoo, 
the  third  after  Yas.  Athens  was  undergoing  a  change  in 
the  form  of  its  constitution,  namely,  the  substitution  of  an 
Archon  for  ten  years  to  an  Archon  for  life.  Alcmaeon  is 
the  last  ruler  of  the  old  system ;  Charops  begins  the  new. 
The  year  754  is  included  in  the  fifth  Olympiad,  the  cham- 
pion of  which,  in  the  competition  of  the  Stadion,  was 
Polychares  from  Messene. 

Such  being  the  political  and  ethnographical  conditions 
and  divisions  of  the  civilized  world  when  Rome  was  founded, 
the  inhabitants  of  Central  Italy,  Etruria  excluded,  had  only 
attained  that  degree  of  civilization  which  is  called  the  civil- 
ization of  bronze.  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  many 
arguments.  First,  in  the  fossil  cemetery  of  Alba  Longa, 
buried  by  that  volcanic  conflagration  which  induced  some 
of  the  Albans  to  migrate  into  the  plain  below,  no  trace  of 
iron  has  been  found,  only  of  amber  and  bronze.  Secondly : 
the  same  absence  of  iron  has  been  noticed  in  the  archaic 
tombs  of  Rome  discovered  within  the  walls  of  Servius  Tul- 
lius,  and  consequently  older  than  the  walls  themselves.  In 
the  third  place,  early  Roman  religious  rites  show  such  an  ab- 
horrence of  iron  that  we  may  infer  from  it  that  iron  was 
regarded  as  a  profane  innovation,  as  a  material  which  could 
not  be  substituted  for  the  venerable  brass  utensils  with- 
out offence  to  the  gods.  I  shall  enter  into  more  particulars 
on  this  subject,  because  to  the  attraction  of  novelty  it  joins 
the  attraction  of  a  profound  interest,  especially  in  a  country 
like  America,  for  which  the  prehistoric  is  the  only  possible 
kind  of  national  archaeology. 

Every  student  is  familiar  with  the  verse  of  Lucretius,  — 

"  Et  prius  aeris  erat  quam  ferri  cognitus  usus," 


40  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

(And  the  use  of  bronze  was  known  before  that  of  iron), 
because  it  proclaims  a  scientific  law,  which,  forgotten  for 
nearly  twenty  centuries,  has  only  lately  been  revived.  Lu- 
cretius must  have  drawn  his  information  from  early  Ro- 
man rituals,  in  which  the  use  of  iron  was  anathematized, 
and  forbidden  to  priests  in  their  religious  capacity,  and  ex- 
cluded also  from  places  of  worship.  Here  are  some  instances 
of  this  practice  :  — 

When  a  village  or  a  town  was  founded,  its  limits  were 
determined  religiously  by  a  furrow  traced  with  a  bronze 
plough,  ceneo  vomere  ;  and  this  practice  was  maintained  long 
after  the  contrivance  of  iron  ploughs. 

Theflamen  Dialis,  one  of  the  high  priests  of  Rome,  and 
belonging  to  an  order  instituted  at  a  very  remote  period, 
could  not  shave  himself  or  have  his  hair  cut  and  trained 
with  an  iron  razor  or  knife,  —  ceneis  cultris  tondebatur  ;  it 
was  his  duty  to  make  use  exclusively  of  a  bronze  instrument. 
I  may  add  that  several  bronze  razors  have  been  discovered 
in  the  archaic  cemetery  on  the  Esquiline. 

The  earliest  of  Roman  bridges,  built  by  Ancus  Martius 
across  the  Tiber,  one  hundred  and  fourteen  years  after  the 
foundation  of  the  city,  was  called  Sublician,  because  it  was 
entirely  constructed  of  wood.  Among  the  details  of  its 
construction  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  one  is  very 
characteristic  :  no  iron  had  been  used  in  building  the  bridge ; 
and,  on  the  strength  of  religious  tradition,  no  iron  was  ever 
used  in  its  subsequent  restorations,  even  in  the  Christian 
era,  down  to  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  The  fact  is  certified 
by  Dionysius,  v.  24  ;  Varro,  v.  83  ;  Ovid,v.  622  ;  and  Pliny, 
in  the  36th  book  (c.  23)  of  his  Natural  History.  Pliny, 
ignorant  as  he  was  of  prehistoric  antiquities,  gives  a  wrong 
explanation  of  the  fact :  he  says  the  Romans  have  always 
excluded  iron  from  the  Sublician  bridge  because,  at  the  time 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  41 

of  its  gallant  defence  by  Horatius  Codes,  they  had  such  a 
hard  time  cutting  it  down  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  cross- 
ing it.  The  explanation  is  absurd  :  iron  was  proscribed 
from  the  structure  because  iron  was  not  known  when  the 
bridge  was  first  thrown  across  the  river,  114  A.  u.  c. 


Remains  of  the  Sublician  Bridge. 

Macrobius,  who  wrote  in  the  fifth  century  of  our  era, 
when  Christianity  had  already  become  the  religion  of  the 
state,  says  that,  from  a  very  remote  period,  brass  instru- 
ments alone  could  be  used  for  religious  purposes.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  rule,  which  shows  the  tenacity  and  the  an- 
tiquity of  Roman  religious  practices,  every  time  iron  chanced 
to  touch  a  temple,  or  a  shrine,  or  any  religious  building 
made  venerable  by  age,  sacrifices  had  to  be  performed  to 
expiate  the  profanation,  except  in  those  cases  where  the  use 
of  iron  had  been  duly  authorized  and  sanctioned  by  a  de- 
cree of  both  the  political  and  the  religious  authorities. 

Many  years  ago,  a  bronze  tablet  was  discovered  among 
the  ruins  of  Furfo,  near  the  village  of  S.  Nicandro,  in  the 
province  of  Aquila,  which  contains  a  rather  remarkable 
document  on  this  subject,  namely,  the  law  passed  by  the 
municipal  magistrates  for  the  building  and  dedication  of  a 
shrine  to  Jupiter.  The  law,  dated  July  11,  of  the  year 
58  B.  c.,  and  written  in  a  rude  kind  of  Latin,  such  as 


42  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

was  spoken  at  that  time  among  the  mountains  of  Abruzzo, 
declares  and  provides  that  although  the  use  of  iron  in  re- 
ligious buildings  was  not  lawful,  still,  all  circumstances 
being  taken  into  consideration,  its  use  was  authorized  in  this 
shrine  of  Jupiter,  and  no  expiatory  sacrifices  were  required 
to  purify  the  shrine  from  the  unlawful  contact. 

More  remarkable  still  is  the  instance  afforded  by  the  laws 
of  the  most  antique  and  venerable  of  Roman  religious 
brotherhoods,  the  College  of  the  Fratres  Arvales.  The 
origin  of  this  brotherhood  is  lost  in  the  darkness  of  age : 
it  was  most  likely  imported  into  Rome  from  Alba  together 
with  the  institution  of  the  Vestal  Virgins  ;  at  any  rate,  it  is 
always  mentioned  by  ancient  writers  in  connection  with 
Romulus,  the  founder  of  the  city.  It  was  composed  of 
twelve  members,  selected  from  the  highest  patrician  families, 
whose  duty  was  to  offer  sacrifices  on  various  days  and 
months  of  the  year  to  a  goddess  called  Dea  Dia,  to  implore 
the  blessings  of  heaven  on  the  produce  of  the  soil,  such  as 
crops  and  harvests  of  every  description,  the  vintage,  and 
so  forth.  Their  ceremonies  correspond,  to  a  certain  degree, 
to  the  Christian  ceremony  of  the  Rogations. 

They  used  to  assemble  in  a  little  wood  at  the  fifth  mile- 
stone of  the  Via  Campana,  on  the  slope  of  the  hills  which 
now  overlook  the  farm  of  La  Magliana,  the  rendezvous  de 
chasse  of  Pope  Leo  X.,  where  he  caught  the  fever  which 
caused  his  death.  The  slope,  now  occupied  by  a  vineyard 
belonging  to  the  Ceccarelli  family,  was  excavated  from  top 
to  bottom  in  1868  and  1869,  at  the  expense  of  the  Empress 
Augusta  of  Germany,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  late 
Professor  W.  Henzen.  The  very  temple  of  the  Dea  Dia 
was  discovered,  a  round  marble  structure  raised  on  a  very 
high  platform,  on  the  vertical  surface  of  which  the  annals, 
or  yearly  records,  of  the  fraternity  were  engraved.  To 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  43 

speak  of  the  importance  of  these  annals,  which  begin  with 
the  reign  of  Augustus  and  stop  with  that  of  Gordianus 
II.,  a  lapse  of  two  centuries  and  a  half,  and  which  contain 
an  almost  incredible  amount  of  archaeological,  historical, 
and  chronological  information,  would  not  be  consistent  with 
the  spirit  of  this  chapter.  I  must  notice,  however,  one 
particular,  which  is  evidently  a  recollection  of  the  age  of 
bronze.  The  annals  of  each  year  were  engraved  on  the 
marble  basement  of  the  temple  during  the  month  of  April, 
and  were  engraved,  of  course,  with  iron  or  steel  tools.  To 
expiate  this  profanation,  in  the  same  month  of  each  year 
sacrifices  were  offered,  ob  ferri  inlationem  et  elationem,  for 
the  introduction  and  removal  of  iron  within  the  sacred  pre- 
cinct :  a  sow  and  a  sheep  were  slain  over  the  altar,  and 
their  flesh  was  eaten  afterwards  by  attendants  and  sacristans 
of  an  inferior  order. 

This  horror  of  iron,  however,  is  not  the  only  recollec- 
tion of  prehistoric  ages  to  be  found  in  the  ritual  of  this 
Arvalian  brotherhood.  There  is  another  one,  still  more 
curious  and  characteristic.  I  have  already  spoken  of  the 
hand-made  and  sun-dried  fossil  pottery  discovered  in  the  vol- 
canic district  of  Alba  Longa  and  in  the  earliest  cemeteries  of 
Rome.  The  Romans  knew  that  this  rough  kind  of  earthen- 
ware had  been  manufactured,  as  utensils  of  prime  necessity, 
by  their  rough,  uncivilized  ancestors.  Hence  Tibullus  wrote : 
Fictilia  antiquus  primum  sibi  fecit  agrestis  pocula  (The 
ancient  shepherd  first  contrived  clay  cups  and  vessels).  In 
memory  of  this  primitive  state  of  things,  the  use  of  earthen- 
ware was  obligatory,  or  at  any  rate  was  preferred,  in  sacrifices 
and  libations.  "It  is  worth  noticing,"  Pliny  remarks,  "how, 
in  the  incredible  luxury  of  our  age,  libations  are  offered  to 
gods,  not  with  cups  of  crystal  and  murrha,  but  with  rough 
terra-cotta  paterae."  The  same  remark  is  made  by  Diony- 


44  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

sius ;  and  Valerius  Maximus  adds  that  the  sacred  fire  of 
Vesta  was  kept  in  an  earthen  jar.  Among  the  most  ven- 
erable relics  preserved  in  ancient  Rome,  there  was  one  called 
the  simpuvium  Numce,  the  drinking-cup  of  Numa  Pompi- 
lius.  Juvenal  (vi.  341)  describes  it  as  a  simple  terra  cotta 
tazza,  of  a  dark  color  and  evidently  made  by  hand,  —  a  de- 
scription which  fits  exactly  the  whole  archaic  suppellex  dis- 
covered at  Alba  and  at  Rome.  It  is  easy  to  understand 
that  in  the  reign  of  Numa  Pompilius  ceramics  were  manu- 
factured in  Rome  with  prehistoric  roughness,  characteristic 
of  the  age  of  bronze.  The  worship  of  this  ancient  cup  of 
Numa  lasted  until  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  In  the  annals, 
also,  of  the  Arvalian  brotherhood,  the  following  record  is 
many  times  engraved  :  Ollas  precati  sunt  (They  have  ad- 
dressed their  prayers  to  earthen  jars).  Although  it  was 
obvious  that  a  connection  could  be  traced  between  this  prac- 
tice of  the  Arvalians  and  the  worship  of  Numa's  cup,  still 
no  evidence  of  the  fact  could  be  produced.  But  in  1870,  a 
few  weeks  before  the  excavations  of  the  Empress  Augusta 
were  brought  to  a  close,  there  were  found  at  the  foot  of  the 
temple  eighteen  prehistoric  cups,  which,  although  in  a  more 
or  less  fragmentary  condition,  could  be  recognized  as  abso- 
lutely identical  with  the  fossil  pottery  of  Alba  Longa. 

Other  prehistoric  souvenirs,  besides  those  already  de- 
scribed, are  to  be  found  in  ancient  Rome.  First,  flint  im- 
plements, arrow-heads,  and  paalstabs  belonging  to  the  age 
of  polished  stone.  These  were  considered  by  the  Romans  as 
a  product  of  lightning  :  inveniuntur  in  loco  fulmine  icto. 
Hence  they  are  called  gemmce  ceraunice,  meteoric  gems, 
by  Pliny ;  and  lapides  fulminis,  lightning  stones,  by  Sido- 
nius  Apollinaris.  They  were  kept  as  amulets  and  sacred 
relics,  on  account  of  their  celestial  origin.  A  Latin  inscrip- 
tion, published  by  Montfaucon  (Orelli,  2510),  speaks  of  a 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  45 

diadem  ornamented  with  flint  implements  offered  to  Isis. 
Prudentius  describes  the  helmets  of  the  German  tribes  as 
crowned  with  flint  arrow-heads.  More  important  still  is  the 
testimonial  of  Claudianus,  who  speaks  of  the  same  imple- 
ments discovered  in  the  caverns  of  the  Pyrenees,  along  the 
bed  of  the  mountain  torrents. 

"  Pyrenaeisque  sub  antris 
Ignea  flumincae  legere  ceraunia  nymphae." 

Who  has  not  heard  of  the  discoveries  made  by  Lartet  in 
the  ossiferous  caverns  of  the  Pyrenees,  of  the  Perigord,  and 
of  old  Castile? 

Not  every  Roman,  however,  believed  this  story  of  the 
electric  origin  of  arrow-heads.  Augustus,  the  founder  of 
the  Empire  and  a  passionate  student  of  palaBO-ethnology, 
made  excavations  in  the  prehistoric  caverns  in  the  island 
of  Capri ;  and  the  res  vetustate  ac  raritate  notabiles,  "  the 
rare  and  curious  things,"  which  he  found  there  are  de- 
scribed by  Suetonius  (Aug.  72)  as  bones  of  giants,  that  is 
to  say,  of  fossil  gigantic  monsters,  and  as  arma  heroum, 
weapons  of  men  living  in  past  forgotten  ages,  which  is  a 
tolerably  good  scientific  definition.  During  my  long  expe- 
rience in  Roman  excavations,  twice  only  have  I  met  with 
stone  implements.  An  arrow  -  head,  probably  kept  as  an 
amulet,  was  discovered  in  1874  in  a  tomb  twenty-six  centu- 
ries old,  near  the  church  of  S.  Martino  al  Monti,  together 
with  other  bronze  tools.  In  the  same  year,  a  paalstab  of 
jadeite  was  found  buried  at  a  depth  of  thirty-eight  feet 
under  the  Monte  della  Giustizia,  near  the  central  railway 
station  ;  but  it  had  no  scientific  value,  as  it  was  lying  on  the 
mosaic  pavement  of  a  Roman  house,  built  in  the  year  123 
of  the  Christian  era.  Nevertheless,  we  possess  the  evidence 
of  the  actual  use  of  stone  knives  by  the  Romans.  When  a 


46  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

treaty  of  peace  or  a  suspension  of  hostilities  was  sworn  be- 
tween Rome  and  its  foes,  the  negotiator,  called  fecialis,  would 
offer  a  sacrifice  and  kill  the  victims,  saxo  silice  or  lapide 
silice  as  Livy  describes  it  (i.  2),  a  practice  imported  from 
the  half -savage  populations  (^Equicoli}  living  in  the  upper 
valley  of  the  Anio. 

To  cut  the  matter  short,  I  will  quote  only  one  more 
instance,  because  it  gives  us  an  important  and  unbroken 
chain  from  the  historic  to  tlie  prehistoric  times,  between  the 
age  of  gold  and  silver  and  the  archaeolithic  age. 

There  was  a  well-known  custom,  in  ancient  times,  of 
throwing  votive  offerings  (sacrce  stipes)  into  lakes,  rivers, 
and  springs,  which  were  sacred  to  the  gods,  or  were  famous 
for  their  mineral  hygienic  properties.  The  custom  dates 
from  very  remote  ages,  as  the  following  discovery  will  tes- 
tify. In  1852,  the  Jesuit  fathers,  owners  of  the  celebrated 
sulphur  springs  called  by  us  "  Sorgenti  di  Vicarello,"  by  the 
ancients  "  Aquse  ApoUinares,"  on  the  west  border  of  the 
lake  of  Bracciano,  sent  from  Rome  a  gang  of  masons  to 
clear  the  mouth  of  the  central  spring,  and  to  put  the  whole 
into  neat  order.  In  draining  the  well,  a  few  feet  only 
below  the  ordinary  level  of  the  waters  they  came  across 
a  layer  of  brass  and  silver  coins  of  the  fourth  century  after 
Christ.  Then  they  discovered  a  second  layer  of  gold  and 
silver  imperial  coins  of  the  best  period,  together  with  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  votive  silver  cups.  In  the  third  place,  they 
came  across  a  stratum  of  silver  family  or  consular  coins,  be- 
longing to  the  last  centuries  of  the  republic,  and  under  this 
they  found  bronze  coins,  sextants,  quadrants,  trients,  and 
so  forth.  Seeing  that  there  remained  nothing  but  brass 
to  plunder,  after  having  partaken  of  the  precious  booty  in 
equal  shares,  the  masons  resolved  to  announce  their  discov- 
eries. It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  when  Padre  Marchi, 


PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME.  47 

the  well-known  numismatist,  ran  to  the  spot,  he  found  only 
a  few  hundred  pieces  of  ces  grave  signatum,  the  earliest 
kind  of  Roman  coinage.  Under  these  there  was  a  bed  of 
ces  rude,  that  is  to  say,  of  shapeless  fragments  of  copper,  a 
kind  of  currency  which  preceded  the  use  of  aes  grave  sig- 
natum. At  the  bottom  of  the  well,  under  the  shapeless 
fragments  of  copper,  there  was  nothing  but  gravel ;  at  least 
the  workmen  and  their  leaders  thought  so.  It  was  not 
gravel,  however ;  it  was  a  stratum  of  arrow-heads  and  paal- 
stabs  and  knives  of  polished  stone,  offered  to  the  sacred 
spring  by  the  half -savage  people  settled  on  the  shores  of  the 
Lago  di  Bracciano  before  the  foundation  of  Rome.  Thus 
this  admirable  chronological  series  of  votive  offerings,  be- 
ginning with  the  age  of  stone,  and  perhaps  with  the  first 
appearance  of  mankind  in  Central  Italy,  and  ending  with 
the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  has  been  dispersed 
and  made  useless,  in  a  certain  degree,  to  science,  partly  by 
robbery,  partly  by  ignorance.  Still,  the  few  hundred  pieces 
saved  by  Padre  Marchi,  and  deposited  by  him  in  the 
Kircherian  Museum,  Rome,  are  considered  the  finest  numis- 
matic group  in  existence  with  reference  to  the  origin  of 
Roman  and  Italian  coinage. 

Now  that  I  have  come  to  the  end  of  this  chapter,  I  feel 
almost  sorry  that  I  have  confined  myself  to  a  strict  scientific 
inquiry  in  connection  with  the  origin  of  Rome,  and  have 
spoken  the  language  of  dry  exactness,  when  I  might  easily 
have  abandoned  myself  to  the  fascination  of  poetical  and 
legendary  traditions.  The  duty  of  a  modern  archaBologist  is 
rather  hard  and  unpleasant  if  he  has  any  spark  of  enthusiasm 
and  poetry  in  his  soul ;  compelled  as  he  is  to  demolish  piece 
by  piece  theories  which  have  been  believed  and  cherished  for 
centuries,  and  to  refuse  credence  to  legends  which  have  in- 
spired artists  and  writers  in  the  creation  of  their  masterpieces 


48  PREHISTORIC  LIFE   OF  ROME. 

of  art  and  literature.  I  recollect  the  thrill  of  emotion  which 
I  used  to  feel  —  and  which  I  feel  now  in  spite  of  conviction 
—  in  reading  the  speech  which  Livy  attributes  to  Camillus 
(v.  54)  when  he  was  trying  to  stop  the  emigration  of  his 
fellow-citizens  to  Veii :  "  Not  without  reason  did  gods  and 
men  select  this  site  for  the  foundation  of  Rome  :  healthy 
hills ;  a  convenient  river,  equally  adapted  to  inland  and  mar- 
itime trade  ;  the  sea  not  too  far  off  to  prevent  a  brisk  inter- 
national trade,  nor  so  near  as  to  expose  Rome  to  the  danger 
of  a  sudden  attack  from  foreign  vessels ;  a  site  right  in  the 
centre  of  the  peninsula,  —  a  site  made,  as  it  were,  on  purpose 
to  allow  the  city  to  become  the  greatest  city  in  the  world." 
We  have  seen,  to  our  common  regret,  I  trust,  that  no  super- 
,  natural  influence  or  inspiration,  no  deep  political  thought, 
presided  over  the  foundation  of  Rome ;  that  its  origin  must 
be  attributed  plainly  to  the  duris  urgens  in  rebus  egestas, 
the  necessity  which  compelled  Alban  shepherds  to  look  for 
surer  and  better  pasture  grounds.  We  have  seen  that  even 
its  name  is  a  matter-of-fact  name,  derived  from  the  most 
noticeable  landmark  of  the  place.  But  if  we  cannot  admire 
the  pretended  political  forethought  and  wisdom  of  the 
founders  of  Rome,  we  are  compelled,  at  any  rate,  to  admire 
their  manly  vigor,  their  indefatigable  energy,  which  led 
them  in  a  short  time  to  exchange  their  pastoral  rod  for  the 
sceptre  of  kings,  and  which  turned  them,  to  use  the  expres- 
sion of  Homer,  from  leaders  of  flocks  into  leaders  of  men. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    SANITARY    CONDITIONS    OF    ANCIENT    ROME. 

AFTER  describing  in  the  last  chapter  the  humble  origin 
of  Rome  and  the  simple  causes  which  led  to  its  foundation 
on  the  Palatine  hill,  we  must  inquire  now  whether  the 
selection  was  equaUy  happy  as  regards  the  sanitary  condi- 
tions of  the  district  which  surrounded  the  new  town.  The 
question  is  full  of  practical  interest  on  account  of  the 
mighty  struggle  into  which  we  modern  Romans  have  actu- 
ally entered  against  malaria,  a  plague  which  seems  to  be 
spreading  slowly,  but  surely,  wherever  there  is  a  supera- 
bundance of  moisture,  both  in  the  air  and  in  the  land ; 
in  other  words,  which  is  invading  one  tenth,  at  least,  of  the 
inhabited  world. 

The  history  of  malaria  in  connection  with  Rome  must  be 
divided  into  five  periods,  —  the  prehistoric,  the  republican, 
the  imperial,  the  mediaeval,  and  the  modern  ;  each  one  mark- 
ing a  distinct  stage  in  the  increase  or  in  the  decline  of  the 
plague,  as  weU  as  a  change  in  the  means  adopted  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  fever-stricken  district  to  protect  themselves 
from  the  evil. 

As  regards  the  prehistoric  period,  we  lack,  of  course,  pos= 
itive  evidence,  because,  when  ancient  writers  speak  of  the 
hygienic  condition  which  existed  at  the  time  Rome  was 
founded,  either  they  speak  at  random,  or  else  they  describe 
things  as  they  appeared  in  their  own  age.  It  seems  proba- 
ble that  at  that  time  all  the  lowlands  surrounding  the  Alban 
volcanoes,  as,  for  instance,  the  Pontine,  the  Volscian,  and 


50     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

the  Latin  districts,  were  comparatively  healthy,  on  account 
of  the  purifying  action  of  telluric  fires,  of  sulphuric  ema- 
nations, and  of  many  kinds  of  healing  mineral  springs.  In 
the  deadly  calm  of  nature  which  has  succeeded  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  Latin  volcanoes,  we  find  it  difficult  to  conceive 
an  idea  of  the  subterranean  activity  which  prevailed  at  the 
time.  All  along  the  valley  of  the  Roman  Forum,  which 
valley  corresponds  to  a  fissure  or  rent  of  the  soil  between 
the  Palatine  and  the  Quirinal  hills,  volcanic  phenomena 
continued  to  appear  even  in  historic  times.  The  chasm 
under  the  northeast  spur  of  the  Palatine,  into  which  Mar- 
cus Curtius  is  said  to  have  leaped,  seems  to  have  been  the 
crater  of  a  kind  of  geyser.  Near  the  Janus  Quadrifrons 
there  were  hot  sulphur  springs,  described  by  Varro  (11.  V. 
32).  In  the  fourth  century  before  Christ  powerful  jets  of 
water  sprang  up  suddenly  in  a  street  called  Insteia  or 
Insteiana.  Julius  Obsequens  speaks  of  other  jets  of  reddish 
water,  near  the  Senate  Hall,  which  he  compares  to  blood 
(sanguine  fluxit}.  A  district  of  the  Campus  Martius  is 
called  campus  ignifer  by  TAvj,fumans  solum  by  Valerius 
Maximus,  TO  Ttvpo^epov  Tte&iov  by  Zosimus,  on  account  of 
volcanic  smokes  and  emanations  which  for  centuries  had 
been  noticed  there. 

The  Campagna  must  have  been  even  more  strongly  puri- 
fied, especially  around  the  slopes  of  the  Alban  hills,  where 
hot  mineral  springs  were  particularly  abundant.  At  all 
events,  this  is  the  only  way  to  explain  the  presence  of  a  thriv- 
ing, healthy,  strong,  and  very  large  population  in  places 
which,  a  few  centuries  later  (namely,  at  the  end  of  tradi- 
tional and  at  the  beginning  of  historic  times),  are  described 
as  pestilential.  Antemnse,  Collatia,  Corioli,  Tellene,  Poli- 
torium,  Crustumerium,  and  many  other  centres,  populous 
in  volcanic  ages,  seem  to  have  been  obliterated  more  by 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     51 

the  deleterious  effects  of  the  climate  than  by  the  chances 
of  war  and  the  overpowering  supremacy  of  Rome.  In  the 
Volscian  district,  along  the  marshy  Tyrrhenian  coast,  there 
were  numberless  settlements :  Ficana,  Lavinium,  Ardea, 
Pyrgi,  Antium,  Alsiuin,  and  so  forth.  As  to  the  Pontine 
region,  Pliny  asserts  that  it  was  the  abode  of  a  dense  and 
thriving  population. 

It  may  be  a  simple  coincidence,  it  may  depend  upon  a 
mere  accident,  this  fact  of  the  extinction  of  human  life  at 
the  precise  time  in  which  volcanic  lif  e  was  extinguished  in 
the  old  Latium,  but  it  is  a  coincidence  worth  scientific 
investigation.  There  can  no  longer  be  any  doubt  that 
malaria  invaded  the  volcanic  regions  the  very  minute  they 
ceased  to  be  volcanic. 

With  regard  to  the  site  of  Rome  itself,  we  can  hardly 
believe  the  words  of  Cicero  (De  Rep.,  2,  6),  in  which  he 
describes  it  as  in  regione  pestilenti  salubris,  salubrious  in 
a  pestilential  region,  although  the  same  observation  is  made 
by  Livy,  who  considers  it  almost  a  prodigious  fact  that  the 
town  should  prove  healthy  in  spite  of  the  pestilent  and 
desert  region  by  which  it  was  surrounded  (5,  54—7,  38). 
They  evidently  refer  to  the  state  of  things  prevailing  in 
their  own  age.  How  is  it  possible  that  a  hill  like  the  Pala- 
tine, only  a  few  feet  high,  and  surrounded  on  three  sides 
by  poisonous  marshes,  should  be  exempt  from  the  effects  of 
malaria  ?  The  other  hills  of  Rome  were  not  better  favored, 
from  a  hygienic  point  of  view :  the  Crelian  and  the  Aventine 
suffered  from  the  effluvia  of  the  swamps  near  the  Porta 
Metronia  ; 1  the  Quirinal  and  the  Pincian  likewise  from  those 
of  the  Caprea  Palus ; 2  in  fact,  Livy  asserts  that,  before  the 

1  These  swamps,  called  Decennice,  have  been  drained  lately,  and  filled  up  with 
the  earth  from  the  excavations  of  the  Forum. 

2  On  the  subject  of  the  Caprea  Palus,  see  a  recent  paper  of  Comm.  de  Rossi 
in  Bull.  Comm.     Rome,  1885. 


52     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

construction  of  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  every  valley  between 
the  seven  hills  was  nothing  but  a  boggy  quagmire.  These 
hot-beds  of  malaria  were  fed  by  numberless  springs,  run- 
ning sometimes  above,  sometimes  under  ground,  impreg- 
nating the  whole  region  with  dampness,  which  is  one,  and 
perhaps  the  most  active,  of  the  three  coefficients  of  the 
plague. 

The  clearest  proof  of  the  virulence  of  malaria  in  the 
first  century  of  the  history  of  Rome  is  afforded  by  the 
large  number  of  altars  and  shrines  dedicated  by  its  early 
inhabitants  to  the  goddess  of  the  Fever  and  other  kindred 
divinities.  At  the  time  of  Varro,  there  were  not  less  than 
three  temples  of  the  Fever  left  standing  :  one  on  the  Pala- 
tine, one  in  the  square  of  Marius  on  the  Esquiline,  one  on 
the  upper  end  of  the  Vicus  Longus,  a  street  which  corre- 
sponds, within  certain  limits,  to  the  modern  Via  Nazionale. 

The  Esquiline  quarter  seems 
to  have  been  the  worst  of  all 
in  its  sanitary  conditions  ;  in 
fact,  besides  the  Fever's  tem- 
ple, there  was  an  altar  dedi- 
cated to  the  Evil  Eye  (Mala 
Fortuna),  and  an  altar  and  a 
small  wood  dedicated  to  the 
goddess  Mefitis.  Near  the 
Praetorian. camp,  and  near  the 
modern  railway  station,  I  have 
found,  myself,  an  altar  conse- 
.  ,7  crated  to  Verminus,  the  £od 

Altar  dedicated  to  Verminus.  e 

of  microbes ;  and  lastly,  in  the 

very  centre  of  the  Roman  Forum,  there  was  an  altar  sacred 
to  Cloacina,  a  goddess  of  typhoid,  I  suppose. 

It   appears   from   the   particulars   just   given    that    the 


.  9.7S2 > 


V E  R  kv!  tNO-i"^  = 

•AF-A-K-  AJUBt 


] 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     53 

primitive  inhabitants  of  Rome,  acting  as  men  always  do 
act  when  they  find  themselves  exposed  to  the  ravages  of 
an  unknown  evil,  utterly  ignorant  of  its  mysterious  nature 
and  of  the  proper  way  to  fight  and  to  lessen  its  effect,  raised 
their  hands  towards  their  gods,  and  actually  increased  the 
number  of  their  divinities,  and  contrived  new  ones,  im- 
ploring from  heaven  the  help  which  they  failed  to  secure 
with  their  own  resources.  After  the  lapse  of  many,  many 
years,  the  request  of  those  simple  and  energetic  men  was 
granted,  and  their  town  was  made  comparatively  healthy, 
not  in  a  supernatural  or  miraculous  manner,  but  as  a  just 
and  well-earned  compensation  for  the  efforts  they  had  made 
and  for  the  trouble  they  had  taken  to  establish  a  better 
state  of  things.  Strange  as  it  seems,  after  the  fall  of  the 
Empire,  when  Rome,  almost  annihilated  by  the  inroads  of 
barbarians,  found  itself  in  a  condition  almost  worse  than 
that  of  its  early  age,  powerless  to  accomplish  any  work  of 
improvement,  and  exposed  again  to  the  full  influence  of 
malaria,  the  inhabitants  raised  again  their  eyes  towards 
God,  built  a  chapel  near  the  Vatican  in  honor  of  the  Ma- 
donna della  Febbre  —  our  Lady  of  the  Fever  —  which 
became  one  of  the  most  frequented  and  honored  chapels  of 
mediaeval  Rome. 

The  principal  works  of  improvement  successfully  accom- 
plished in  ancient  times  for  the  benefit  of  public  health  and 
for  checking  malaria  may  be  chronologically  described  as 
follows :  I.  The  construction  of  drains.  II.  The  construc- 
tion of  aqueducts.  III.  The  multiplication  and  the  paving 
of  roads.  IV.  The  proper  organization  of  public  cemete- 
ries. V.  The  drainage  and  cultivation  of  the  Campagna. 
VI.  The  organization  of  medical  help. 

First,  as  regards  the  drains.  The  plan  of  the  Etruscan  en- 
gineers employed  by  Tarquinius  Priscus  to  organize  the 


54     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

drainage  of  the  town  seems  to  have  been  to  give  an  outlet 
to  the  ponds  and  swamps  and  marshes  which  stretched  along 
the  valley  between  each  couple  of  hills,  more  than  to  carry 
off  the  sewage,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word.  The 
Cloaca  Maxima,  receptaculum  omnium  purgamentorum  ur- 


The  Cloaca  Maxima. 

bis,  the  main  collector,  as  Livy  describes  it,  has  been  praised, 
admired,  eulogized  by  Dionysius  (3,  67),  Pliny  (36,  15),  Au- 
relius  Victor  (V.  111.  8),  Strabo  (5,  3),  Dion  Cassius  (49, 
43),  and  in  modern  times  by  Niebuhr  and  Bunsen.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  work  is  simply  wonderful.  An  im- 
mense sewer,  built  twenty-five  centuries  ago,  on  unstable 
ground,  under  enormous  practical  difficulties,  which  still 
answers  well  its  purpose,  is  a  work  to  be  classed  among  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  engineering.  But  the  exactness  of  an 
archaeologist  compels  me  to  say  that  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  in 
spite  of  its  name,  can  no  longer  boast  of  the  priority 
which  it  has  enjoyed  for  so  many  centuries  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Roman  sewers.  In  canoeing  along  the  left  bank 
of  the  Tiber,  I  had  long  noticed  the  mouth  of  another  cloaca, 
a  trifle  larger  than  the  Maxima,  and  separated  from  it  by  an 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     55 

interval  of  some  three  hundred  feet.  I  had  heard  it  called 
the  cloaca  of  the  Circus  Maximus,  but  I  was  ignorant  on 
whose  authority  and  by  what  reason  such  a  name  had  been 


Mouth  of  the  Cloaca  of  the  Circus  Maximus. 

applied.  Six  years  ago,  at  the  bottom  of  the  valley  which 
separated  the  Palatine  from  the  Crelian,  between  the  Arch  of 
Constantino  and  the  church  of  S.  Gregorio  al  Monte  Celio, 
a  cloaca  even  larger  and  higher  than  the  Maxima  was  dis- 
covered, three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  its  opening  into  the 
Tiber,  at  the  depth  of  forty  feet.  The  enormous  size  of  its 


56     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

blocks,  the  beauty  and  perfection  of  its  masonry,  and  the 
wonderful  preservation  make  it  compare  most  advanta- 
geously with  its  rival,  the  Maxima,  to  which  it  is  altogether 
superior  as  regards  length  and  extent  of  district  drained. 

The  sewers  of  ancient  Rome  answered  their  purpose 
pretty  well,  especially  if  we  take  into  consideration  the 
remote  age  in  which  they  were  constructed,  and  their  en- 
gineers'  ignorance  of  modern  sanitary  principles  and  of  the 
theory  of  microbes.  Their  greatest  defects  are,  first,  that 
they  were  used  at  the  same  time  to  carry  off  the  sewage  and 
refuse  of  the  town  and  the  rain-water ;  second,  that  this 
double  employment  made  it  necessary  to  have  large  open- 
ings along  the  streets,  so  that  the  population  was  perma- 
nently brought  in  contact  with  the  poisonous  effluvia  of  the 
sewers.  Many  of  these  mouths  of  drains  have  come  down 
to  us,  some  exceedingly  rough  and  primitive,  some  more 
elaborate  and  cut  in  marble.  The  most  celebrated,  perhaps, 
is  the  so-called  Bocca  della  Verita,  a  marble  disc,  five  feet 
in  diameter,  with  the  head  of  the  Ocean  in  alto-relievo  in 
the  centre,  through  the  open  mouth  of  which  the  rain-water 
would  escape.  This  monument,  the  scarecrow  of  children 
who  show  an  inclination  to  lie,  is  preserved  in  the  portico 
of  the  church  of  S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  near  the  ancient 
forum  Boarium.  The  third  defect  of  Roman  sewage  was 
that  each  sewer  emptied  directly  into  the  Tiber,  thus  pollut- 
ing its  waters,  which  were  used  not  only  for  bathing  and 
swimming,  but  even  for  drinking. 

The  best  apology  for  this  state  of  things  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  not  only  modern  Rome  itself,  but  many 
other  European  capitals,  not  to  speak  of  provincial  towns 
and  villages,  remained  until  lately  in  an  absolutely  identical 
condition.  The  improvement  in  the  department  of  sewers 
is  one  of  the  last,  if  not  the  very  last  achievement  of  mod- 


AS  I L1C 
RA  T  R I 
flCUMTlA'CANQN 


THE  BOCCA  DELLA  VERITA. 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     57 

ern  science  in  connection  with  hygiene,  and  it  is  still  far 
from  perfection. 

The  introduction  of  pure,  drinkable  water  into  Rome  took 
place  not  earlier  than  the  fifth  century  after  its  foundation. 
Sextus  Julius  Frontinus,  a  magistrate  who  presided  over  the 
department  of  aqueducts  during  the  Empire  of  Trajan,  he- 
gins  his  "  Commentaries  "  on  the  subject  with  the  follow- 
ing remark :  "  During  four  hundred  and  forty-one  years  the 
Romans  satisfied  themselves  with  the  use  of  such  water  as 
they  could  obtain  on  the  spot,  from  the  Tiber,  from  wells, 
or  from  springs.  Some  of  these  springs  are  still  held  in 
great  consideration,  on  account  of  their  supposed  healing 
power.  'Such  are  the  springs  of  the  Camo3n«,  of  Apollo, 
and  of  Mercury." 

The  waters  of  the  Tiber,  reaching  Rome  after  a  run  of 
249  miles  through  clay  or  alluvial  soil,  are  certainly  not 
pure  or  clear;  in  fact,  they  are  saturated  with  mineral 
and  solid  matter.  It  appears  from  official  observations  car- 
ried on  between  March,  1871,  and  February,  1872,  that  with 
an  average  daily  efflux  of  1,296,000  cubic  metres,  the  river 
has  carried  down  to  the  sea  8,582,333  tons  of  sand,  equal 
to  a  volume  of  4,114,253  cubic  metres.  In  spite  of  this 
state  of  things,  what  the  ancients  assert  about  the  potability 
of  its  waters  is  proved  by  the  fact  that,  after  the  destruction 
of  imperial  aqueducts,  the  population  of  mediaeval  Rome 
resorted  again  to  this  as  the  only  means  of  quenching  its 
thirst ;  in  fact,  the  desire  and  the  necessity  of  being  near 
the  river  must  be  considered  as  the  leading  cause  of  the 
abandonment  of  the  healthy  hills,  and  of  the  mustering  of 
the  population  in  the  Campus  Martius.  The  salubrity  of 
the  waters  of  the  Tiber  is  celebrated  by  Alessandro  Petroni, 
physician  to  Gregory  XIII.,  and  by  Alessandro  Bacci,  phy- 
sician to  Sixtus  V.  Clement  VII.,  in  the  journey  to  Mar- 


58     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

seilles,  which  he  undertook  in  1553  to  celebrate  the  marriage 
of  his  niece,  Catherine  de'  Medici,  with  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
afterwards  Henry  II.,  acting  on  the  advice  of  his  physi- 
cian, Corti,  brought  with  him  such  a  quantity  of  water  from 
the  Tiber  as  to  be  sufficient  for  all  the  requirements  of  the 
journey.  The  same  precaution  was  taken  by  Paul  III., 
Farnese,  in  his  wanderings  to  Loretto,  Bologna,  and  Nice. 

Fancy  what  must  have  been,  in  early  Roman  times,  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  a  town  the  drains  of  which,  not 
washed  by  any  influx  of  water,  communicated  from  space 
to  space  with  the  public  streets  by  large  unprotected 
openings,  and  emptied  into  a  river,  the  polluted  waters 
of  which  were  drunk  by  the  whole  population !  The  first 
remedy  against  the  evil  was  adopted  in  442  A.U.C.  by  the 
building  of  an  aqueduct,  which  was  to  carry  into  the  city  the 
water  of  a  spring  seven  and  a  half  miles  distant,  called  Aqua 
Appia,  from  the  name  of  Appius  Claudius  Csecus,  the  builder 
of  the  aqueduct  and  of  the  Appian  Way.  The  first  step 
in  the  right  direction  once  taken,  it  was  easy  to  advance 
boldly.  I  cannot  follow  stage  by  stage  the  history  of 
Roman  aqueducts.  I  will  trace  simply  a  brief  and  com- 
prehensive sketch  of  the  water-supply  of  Rome,  under  the 
Empire ;  that  is  to  say,  at  the  period  in  which  it  was  brought 
to  perfection. 

Comparing  the  accounts  left  by  Frontinus  and  Procopius 
on  this  subject  with  the  remains  of  aqueducts  radiating 
from  Rome  in  every  direction,  and  which  form  such  a  char- 
acteristic landmark  of  the  Campagna,  we  gather  the  follow- 
ing information. 

Eighteen  springs  have  been  collected  and  canalized  by 
the  Romans  from  distances  varying  from  a  minimum  of 
seven  and  a  half  miles  to  a  maximum  of  forty-four.  The 
waters  were  brought  to  Rome  by  means  of  fourteen  aque- 


,/xt 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     59 

ducts,  the  length  of  which  varies  from  a  minimum  of  eleven 
miles  to  a  maximum  of  fifty-nine.  The  aggregate  length 
of  these  fourteen  aqueducts  amounts  to  three  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  and  one  third  miles ;  of  which  three  hundred  and 
four  miles  are  under  ground,  fifty-five  above  ground,  the 
channel  being  carried  on  the  top  of  really  triumphal  arcades, 
at  prodigious  heights,  sometimes  exceeding  one  hundred 
feet.  The  quality  of  the  waters  varied  greatly.  The  best 
were  considered  the  Marcia,  the  Claudia,  and  the  Virgo ; 
worst  of  all,  the  Anio  Vetus  and  the  Alsietina ;  these  two 
accordingly  were  employed  only  for  the  irrigation  of  gar- 
dens and  for  washing  away  the  drains,  and  were  drunk  only 
in  cases  of  absolute  necessity.  As  regards  the  temperature, 
the  Marcia  was  the  coldest : 

"  Marsas  nives  et  frigora  ducens  Marcia," 

as  Statius  sings.  It  marks  46°  Fahrenheit  at  the  spring 
of  S.  Lucia.  Tacitus  relates  among  the  crazy  exploits  of 
Nero  his  attempt  to  profane  the  sacred  spring  by  swimming 
across  it  from  shore  to  shore.  This  pollution  of  the  pure 
icy  waters  was  avenged  by  a  rheumatic  fever,  which  brought 
the  young  emperor  to  the  verge  of  death. 

I  have  many  times  been  asked  the  question  why  the  Romans 
spent  such  an  amount  of  time,  labor,  and  money  in  build- 
ing these  prodigious  channels  across  mountains  and  valleys, 
tunnelling  the  former  and  bridging  over  the  latter,  with  tun- 
nels and  bridges  many  miles  long,  when  it  would  have  been 
so  easy  and  so  economical  to  lay  down  pipes,  following  at  a 
moderate  depth  the  undulations  of  the  country.  In  other 
words,  I  have  been  asked  whether  the  Romans  knew  or  did 
not  know  the  principle  of  the  siphon.  To  be  sure  they  knew 
it,  in  theory  and  in  practice.  The  siphons  of  Patarae  and 
Aspendus  in  Pamphylia,  of  Constantina  in  Mauritania,  and 


60     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

of  Lyons  in  the  Gallia  Lugdunensis  are  all  well  known. 
The  finest  and  most  daring  of  all  is  the  siphon  of  Alatri, 
built  by  a  wealthy  citizen,  Betilienus  Varus,  a  century  and 
a  half  before  the  Christian  era,  and  capable  of  supporting 
a  pressure  of  ten  atmospheres.  As  to  the  main  aqueducts 
which  supplied  Rome  with  a  daily  volume  of  fifty-four  mil- 
lion cubic  feet  of  water,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
substitute  metal  pipes  for  channels  of  masonry,  because  the 
Romans  did  not  know  cast-iron,  and  no  pipe  except  of  cast- 
iron  could  have  supported  such  enormous  pressure.  Let  us 
rejoice  at  this  state  of  things,  because,  had  the  ancients 
known  the  contrivances  of  modern  industry,  we  should  most 
likely  have  been  deprived  of  the  loveliest  sight  which  our 
Roman  Campagna  offers. 

Before  leaving  this  interesting  subject  of  the  water-sup- 
ply, I  must  make  two  more  remarks :  the  first  concerns  the 
system  widely  followed  in  our  age,  of  damming  the  beds 
of  rivers  in  mountainous  regions,  in  order  to  create  artificial 
lakes  or  reservoirs  of  pure  water,  from  which  the  supply  is 
derived.  The  ancients  knew  and  followed  this  system  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  One  of  our  aqueducts,  the  Anio  Novus, 
originally  drew  its  supply  directly  from  the  river  Aniene,  at 
a  place  forty  miles  distant  from  Rome.  It  happened  that 
every  time  the  river  was  swollen  by  rains,  the  aqueduct 
carried  down  troubled  and  undrinkable  water,  which  would 
fill  up  the  main  channel  with  incrustations  of  carbonate 
of  lime,  and  choke  the  minor  pipes.  To  mend  the  matter, 
and  to  obtain  a  constant  influx  of  pure  water,  the  valley 
of  the  Anio  was  dammed,  not  once,  but  three  times,  across 
the  picturesque  gorge  or  canon  of  the  Symbruine  moun- 
tains, between  the  modern  town  of  Subiaco  and  the  Bene- 
dictine abbey  of  the  Sacro  Speco,  and  three  artificial  lakes 
were  thus  obtained,  in  which  the  water  was  purified  three 
times. 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.  61 

The  second  remark  concerns  the  system  employed  by  the 
ancients  in  boring  and  tunnelling  the  mountains  for  hy- 
draulic purposes.  Two  very  curious  documents  have  come 
down  to  us  on  this  subject.  The  first  is  the  official  report 
of  the  perforation  of  a  tunnel,  to  bring  down  to  Bougie, 
Algeria  (called  then  Saldse  or  Civitas  Salditana),  the  waters 
of  a  spring,  fourteen  miles  distant,  now  called  Am-Seur. 
The  report,  engraved  on  a  marble  altar,  discovered  in  1866 
near  Lambsese,  begins  with  a  petition  addressed  in  the  year 
152  A.  D.  by  Varius  Clemens,  governor  of  Mauritania,  to  Va- 
lerius Etruscus,  governor  of  Numidia.  The  petition  reads 
as  follows :  "  Varius  Clemens  greets  Valerius  Etruscus,  and 
begs  him  in  his  own  name  and  in  the  name  of  the  township 
of  Saldae  to  dispatch  at  once  the  hydraulic  engineer  of  the 
III  legion,  Nonius  Datus,  with  orders  that  he  finish  the 
work,  which  he  seems  to  have  forgotten."  The  petition  was 
favorably  received  by  the  governor  and  by  the  engineer, 
Nonius  Datus,  who,  when  he  had  fulfilled  his  mission,  wrote 
to  the  magistrates  of  Saldse  the  following  report :  — 

"  After  leaving  my  quarters  I  met  with  the  brigands  on 
my  way,  who  robbed  me  even  of  my  clothes,  and  wounded 
me  severely.  I  succeeded,  after  the  encounter,  in  reaching 
Saldse,  where  I  was  met  by  the  governor,  who,  after  allow- 
ing me  some  rest,  took  me  to  the  tunnel.  There  I  found 
everybody  sad  and  despondent ;  they  had  given  up  all 
hopes  that  the  two  opposite  sections  of  the  tunnel  would 
meet,  because  each  section  had  already  been  excavated  be- 
yond the  middle  of  the  mountain,  and  the  junction  had 
not  yet  been  effected.  As  always  happens  in  these  cases, 
the  fault  was  attributed  to  the  engineer,  as  though  he  had 
not  taken  all  precautions  to  insure  the  success  of  the  work. 
What  could  I  have  done  better  ?  I  began  by  surveying 
and  taking  the  levels  of  the  mountain  ;  I  marked  most 


62     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

carefully  the  axis  of  the  tunnel  across  the  ridge ;  I  drew 
plans  and  sections  of  the  whole  work,  which  plans  I  handed 
over  to  Petronius  Celer,  then  governor  of  Mauritania  ;  and, 
to  take  extra  precaution,  I  summoned  the  contractor  and 
his  workmen,  and  began  the  excavation  in  their  pres- 
ence, with  the  help  of  two  gangs  of  experienced  vet- 
erans, namely,  a  detachment  of  marine-infantry  (classicos 
milites),  and  a  detachment  of  Alpine  troops  (gaesates). 
What  more  could  I  have  done?  Well,  during  the  four 
years  I  was  absent  at  Lambsese,  expecting  every  day  to  hear 
the  good  tidings  of  the  arrival  of  the  waters  at  Saldse,  the 
contractor  and  the  assistant  had  committed  blunder  upon 
blunder ;  in  each  section  of  the  tunnel  they  had  diverged 
from  the  straight  line,  each  towards  his  right,  and,  had 
I  waited  a  little  longer  before  coming,  Saldse  would  have 
possessed  two  tunnels  instead  of  one."  Nonius  Datus, 
having  discovered  the  mistake,  caused  the  two  diverging 
arms  to  be  united  by  a  transverse  channel ;  the  waters  of 
Ai'n-Seur  could  finally  cross  the  mountain  ;  and  their  arri- 
val at  Saldae  was  celebrated  with  extraordinary  rejoicings, 
in  the  presence  of  the  governor  Varius  Clemens  and  of  the 
engineer. 

To  come  back  to  Rome,  however,  the  longest  tunnel  con- 
structed in  its  vicinity  for  the  sake  of  the  water-supply  is 
the  one  of  Monte  Affliano,  between  Tivoli  and  S.  Gericomio, 
4,950  metres  (about  three  miles)  long.  Its  boring  was  in- 
trusted by  Domitian  to  one  of  the  imperial  contractors, 
L.  Paquedius  Festus.  A  bold  and  arduous  work  it  was, 
especially  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  ventilation  in  a 
channel  only  seven  feet  high  by  three  wide.  The  con- 
tractor, before  commencing  the  tunnel,  made  a  vow  to  a 
local  goddess,  named  the  Bona  Dea,  to  restore  her  decayed 
temple  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  if  the  enterprise  should 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.  63 

succeed.     The  two  opposite  sections  met  most  successfully 
on  July  3,  A.  D.  88.    The  beautiful  columns  and  fragments  of 


Junction  of  the  Five  Great  Aqueducts. 


statuary  discovered  on  the  summit  of  Monte  Affliano  prove 
that  the  vow  of  L.  Paquedius  was  not  what  is  called  the 
vow  of  a  sailor. 

The  influence  of  this  magnificent  supply  of  water  on  the 


64     SANITARY  CONDITIONS    OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

health  of  the  inhabitants  of  Rome  and  the  Campagna  can 
easily  be  understood.  There  was  no  farm,  no  country- 
house,  no  villa,  there  was  no  neighborhood,  however  small 
and  insignificant,  of  rustic  people,  which  could  not  be  favored 
with  copious  fountains  of  icy-cold,  salubrious  water.  Vil- 
lages and  towns,  such  as  Ostia,  Portus,  Gabii,  Bovillse,  Veii, 
the  ruins  of  which  are  scattered  to-day  in  a  waterless  desert, 
were  in  Roman  times  almost  overflowed,  and  their  aqueducts 
vie  in  length  and  magnificence  with  the  main  aqueducts  of 
the  capital. 

The  reform  and  regulation  of  the  public  cemeteries  — 
another  hot-bed  of  pestilence  —  took  place  even  later  than 
the  reform  in  the  supply  of  water.  I  speak,  of  course,  of 
public  cemeteries,  for  the  burial  of  artisans,  of  slaves,  and 
of  the  poorest  classes  of  the  people,  because  persons  belong- 
ing to  higher  classes  usually  provided  themselves  with  private 
tombs,  either  within  the  precincts  of  their  villas  and  farms, 
or  along  the  sides  of  the  highways.  It  is  impossible  to 
conceive  an  idea  of  the  horrors  of  a  common  carnarium  or 
fosse  in  the  first  centuries  of  Rome.  I  will  give  particulars 
of  one  only,  which  occupied  a  large  district  on  the  Esqui- 
line,  because  these  particulars  were  discovered  by  myself, 
and  have  not  yet  been  fully  disclosed  to  the  general  public. 

The  Esquiline  cemetery  was  divided  into  two  sections : 
one  for  the  artisans  who  could  afford  to  be  buried  apart  in 
Columbaria,  containing  a  certain  number  of  cinerary  urns ; 
one  for  the  slaves,  beggars,  prisoners,  and  others,  who  were 
thrown  in  revolting  confusion  into  common  pits  or  fosses. 
This  latter  section  covered  an  area  one  thousand  feet  long, 
and  three  hundred  deep,  and  contained  many  hundred  puti- 
culi  or  vaults,  twelve  feet  square,  thirty  deep,  of  which  I 
have  brought  to  light  and  examined  about  seventy-five.  In 
many  cases  the  contents  of  each  vault  were  reduced  to  a 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     65 

uniform  mass  of  black,  viscid,  pestilent,  unctuous  matter ;  in 
a  few  cases  the  bones  could  in  a  measure  be  singled  out  and 
identified.  The  reader  will  hardly  believe  me  when  I  say 
that  men  and  beasts,  bodies  and  carcasses,  and  any  kind  of 
unmentionable  refuse  of  the  town  were  heaped  up  in  those 
dens.  Fancy  what  must  have  been  the  condition  of  this 
hellish  district  in  times  of  pestilence,  when  the  mouths  of 
the  crypts  must  have  been  kept  wide  open  the  whole  day ! 
But  there  is  something  still  worse.  Every  visitor  to  Rome 
knows  the  great  fortification  which  protected  the  city  on  the 
east  side,  called  the  Agger  or  embankment  of  Servius  Tullius, 
from  the  king  who  raised  it.  This  fortification,  more  than  one 
mile  long,  comprised  a  ditch  or  moat  one  hundred  feet  wide 
and  thirty  deep,  with  ramparts  one  hundred  feet  wide  and 
thirty  high,  supported  and  strengthened  on  the  outside  by 
a  lofty  battlemented  wall.  It  seems  that  under  the  republi- 
.  can  rule,  and  on  the  occasion  of  a  stupendous  mortality,  — 
to  use  the  words  of  Livy,  —  the  portion  of  the  huge  moat 
which  skirted  the  cemetery  of  the  Esquiline  was  filled 
with  corpses,  thrown  in  as  if  they  were  carrion,  until  the 
level  of  the  embankment  was  reached.  The  discovery  of 
these  revolting  particulars  took  place  in  1876,  under  the 
circumstances  which  I  am  going  to  relate.  In  building  the 
foundations  of  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Via  Carlo- Alberto 
and  Via  Mazzini,  the  architect,  deceived  by  the  presence 
of  a  solid  bed  of  tufa  on  the  northern  half  of  the  build- 
ing-ground, began  to  lay  his  masonry  and  fill  up  the 
trenches  to  the  uniform  depth  of  twelve  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  street.  All  of  a  sudden  the  southern  portion  of  the 
ground  gave  way,  and  one  half  of  the  area  fell  through 
into  a  chasm  thirty  feet  deep.  On  careful  examination  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  catastrophe,  it  was  ascertained  that, 
whereas  the  northern  half  of  the  foundations  rested  on  the 


66     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

solid  embankment  or  Agger  of  Servius  Tullius,  the  southern 
half  had  been  laid  on  the  site  of  the  ditch,  filled  up  with 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  corpses,  which,  when  brought 
in  contact  with  the  air  after  twenty  centuries,  had  crumbled 
into  dust  or  nothing,  leaving  open  a  huge  chasm.  Accord- 
ing to  measurements  which  I  took  at  the  time,  this  mass  of 
human  remains  was,  at  least,  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
long,  one  hundred  wide,  and  thirty  deep.  Giving  to  each 
corpse  an  average  space  of  twenty  cubic  feet,  which  is  more 
than  sufficient,  there  were  not  less  than  twenty-four  thou- 
sand bodies  in  a  comparatively  small  space. 

As  if  ah1  the  evils  described  were  not  deemed  enough,  the 
town  authorities  had  increased  their  potency  by  allowing 
the  daily  refuse  of  a  population  numbering  nearly  a  million 
souls  to  be  heaped  up  within  and  around  the  precincts  of 
this  Esquiline  cemetery.  In  later  times,  seven  centuries 
after  the  foundation  of  Rome,  they  endeavored  to  stop  the 
practice,  or  at  any  rate  to  regulate  it.  Decree  upon  decree 
was  issued  on  the  subject,  and  a  line  of  stone  cippi,  in- 
scribed with  sanitary  rules,  was  set  up  around  the  edge  of 
the  pestiferous  ground.  I  have  found  three  of  these  police 
regulations  engraved  on  square  blocks  of  travertine.  Here 
is  the  text  of  one  :  "  C.  Sentius,  son  of  Caius,  Pra3tor,  by  order 
of  the  Senate  has  set  up  this  line  of  terminal  stones,  to  mark 
the  extent  of  ground  which  must  be  kept  absolutely  free 
from  dirt  and  from  carcasses  and  corpses.  Here  also  the 
burning  of  corpses  is  strictly  forbidden."  Another  hand, 
probably  that  of  a  man  living  in  the  neighborhood  and 
within  reach  of  the  effluvia  of  the  place,  had  written  in  huge 
red  letters  the  following  entreaty  at  the  foot  of  the  official 
decree :  "  Do  carry  the  dirt  a  little  farther ;  otherwise  you 
will  be  fined."  This  line  of  stones,  beyond  which  the  refuse 
of  the  town  could  be  legally  thrown  and  be  allowed  to  pu- 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     67 

trefy  under  the  burning  sun,  was  only  four  hundred  feet 
distant  from  the  walls  and  embankment  of  Servius  Tullius. 
On  the  day  of  the  discovery  of  the  above-mentioned  stone, 
June  25th,  1884, 1  was  obliged  to  relieve  my  gang  of  work- 
men from  time  to  time,  because  the  smell  from  that  polluted 
ground  (turned  up  after  a  putrefaction  of  twenty  centuries) 
was  absolutely  unbearable  even  for  men  so  hardened  to 
every  kind  of  hardship  as  my  excavators. 

The  reform  in  this  branch  of  public  hygiene,  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  popular  cemetery  on  the  Esquiline,  took  place  only 
under  Augustus,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  enlightened  prime 
minister,  C.  Cilnius  Maecenas,  who  obtained  from  his  sov- 
ereign and  friend  the  concession  of  the  whole  district,  bur- 
ied it  under  an  embankment  of  pure  earth,  twenty-five  feet 
high  and  a  third  of  a  square  mile  in  area,  and  on  the 
newly  made  ground  laid  down  his  magnificent  gardens, 
the  world-known  Horti  Mcecenatiani.  The  event  proved 
to  be  of  such  unexpected  importance  for  the  improvement 
of  the  health  of  Rome  that  Horace  himself  thought  it 
worth  being  sung  by  his  muse : 

"  Nunc  licet  Esquiliis  habitare  salubribus,  atque 
Aggere  in  aprico  spatiari,  quo  modo  tristes 
Albis  informem  spectabant  ossibus  agrum." 

(Sat.  i.  8,  14.) 

I  shall  not  mention  other  improvements  carried  on  with 
the  progress  of  Roman  civilization,  such  as  the  paving  of 
the  streets,  the  opening  of  a  thick  network  of  roads  in  the 
Campagna,  the  drainage  of  damp  districts,  the  spreading  of 
suburbs,  the  careful  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  the  like ; 
because  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  these  particulars 
in  the  chapter  on  the  Campagna.  One  subject  deserves 
more  attention,  because  little  is  known  about  it,  —  the  sub- 
ject of  medical  attendance,  both  public  and  private,  a  matter 


68     SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

which  is  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  sanitary 
arrangements  of  a  civilized  nation. 

The  hospital,  even  in  its  most  rudimentary  shape,  was 
not  known  in  Rome  much  before  the  third  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  In  fact,  Celsus  Aurelianus,  an  eminent 
physician,  who  wrote  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  century 
a  treatise  "  On  Acute  and  Chronic  Diseases  "  (De  morbis 
acutis  et  chronicis),  reproaches  his  colleagues  for  their  obsti- 
nacy in  keeping  their  patients  in  absolute  confinement,  as  a 
practice  injurious  to  the  progress  of  science.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  explain  this  state  of  things.  First,  the  members  of 
the  higher  classes  of  society  were  not  in  need  of  public  san- 
itary institutions ;  secondly,  the  slaves,  of  whom  the  manu- 
facturing and  trading  class  was  chiefly  composed,  had  to  be 
assisted  at  the  expense  of  their  own  masters  in  case  of  sick- 
ness ;  and  besides,  medicine  was  not  known  and  practised 
as  a  science,  but  only  in  an  empiric  fashion.  Hence  pa- 
tients were  compelled  to  confide  more  in  gods  than  in  men, 
and  to  trust  in  supernatural  help  for  the  relief  of  their  ail- 
ments. We  must  also  bear  in  mind  that  charity  was  a 
virtue  altogether  unknown  in  ancient  times,  and  even  if 
it  existed,  was  stifled  by  the  spirit  of  conquest,  by  the 
maintenance  of  slavery,  and  by  the  passion  for  bloody 
and  revolting  gladiatorial  shows,  which  rendered  even  the 
most  tender  Roman  hearts  and  souls  insensible  to  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  neighbor. 

Livy  asserts  that  the  Romans  always  remained  faithful 
to  the  precept  of  Numa :  "  Unam  opem  cegris  corporibus 
relictam  si  pax  veniaque  ab  diis  impetrata  esset"  — that 
the  peace  and  good-will  of  gods  were  the  only  remedies  and 
means  to  recuperate  lost  health  :  a  passage  which  testifies 
that  the  famous  faith-cure  is  at  least  twenty-six  centuries 
old.  Thus  the  more  common  cases  of  sickness  to  which 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS    OF  ANCIENT  ROME.     69 

mankind  is  subject  were  deified  and  idolized,  and  temples 
and  shrines  were  set  up  in  their  honor.  I  have  mentioned 
above  the  altars  of  the  Fever,  the  sacred  wood  of  Mephitis, 
the  shrine  of  Orbona,  and  so  on.  Apollo,  as  a  god  of 
hygiene,  had  a  temple  near  the  theatre  of  Marcellus.  This 
temple,  built  in  the  year  321  of  Rome,  and  opened  for  pub- 
lic worship  two  years  later,  on  the  occasion  of  a  terrific 
stroke  of  pestilence,  was  rediscovered  quite  by  accident  nine 
years  ago,  in  the  cellar  of  a  third-class  inn,  near  the  Piazza 
Montanara,  called  the  Albergo  della  Catena.  It  will  be  ex- 
cavated, we  hope,  in  1889,  in  consequence  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  neighboring  Jewish  quarter  (Ghetto)  ;  and  con- 
sidering its  remarkable  state  of  preservation,  we  trust  we 
shall  be  able  to  find,  at  least,  fragments  of  the  famous 
group  by  Praxiteles  or  Scopas,  representing  Apollo  anni- 
hilating the  children  of  Niobe,  described  by  Pliny  (xxxv., 
5,  28).  Next  in  importance  to  the  temple  of  Apollo  was  the 
temple  of  Health,  the  site  of  which  corresponds  nearly  to 
that  of  the  Barberini  Palace,  on  the  northern  slope  of  the 
Quirinal.  Women  laboring  in  childbirth  could  apply  to 
no  less  than  thirteen  goddesses,  from  Juno  Lucina  down 
to  Deverra,  Diana,  Alemona,  Nona,  Decima,  Partula,  Ante- 
vorta,  Postvorta,  Eugeria,  Fluonia,  Uterina,  Intercidona, 
etc. 

In  the  year  of  the  city  459,  when  Rome  was  in  danger 
of  annihilation  by  another  plague,  the  Sibylline  books  were 
consulted,  as  they  always  were  in  cases  of  supreme  danger. 
The  answer  was :  "^Esculapium  db  Epidauro  Homce  arces- 
sendum  "  (Livy,  x.,  32)  —  ^Esculapius  must  be  removed  from 
Epidaurus  to  Rome  —  and  so  he  was.  The  new  god  was 
comfortably  and  neatly  installed  on  an  island  in  the  Tiber, 
now  called  the  island  of  S.  Bartolomeo,  and  his  temple  be- 
came the  greatest  sanitary  establishment  in  the  metropolis. 


70      SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

The  practice  followed  by  the  Roman  lower  classes  was 
this :  patients  whose  life  was  in  danger  were  brought  into 
the  peristyle  or  atrium  of  the  sanctuary  and  put  to  sleep 
there,  evidently  by  means  of  narcotic  drugs,  in  order  that 
^Esculapius  might  manifest  in  their  dreams  the  proper  way 
of  healing  their  troubles.  Once  the  recipe  was  obtained,  the 
priests  themselves  undertook  the  cure  of  the  patients ;  and  if 
the  cure  succeeded,  by  some  unforeseen  and  wonderful  coin- 
cidence, then  an  ex-voto  was  suspended  in  the  sacristy  of  the 
sanctuary,  together  with  a  tablet  describing  the  happy  event. 
Here  is  the  text  of  one,  given  by  Thomassinus  :  "  In  this  last 
day,  said  the  oracle  to  Caius  the  Blind,  come  to  the  sacred 
altar  and  kneel  in  front  of  it,  then  touch  it  on  the  left 
side,  and  apply  instantly  your  hand  to  your  eye.  Having 
obeyed,  he  recovered  at  once  his  eyesight,  amidst  the  ap- 
plause of  the  assembled  multitudes."  l  Is  it  not  a  striking 
coincidence,  is  it  not  a  striking  proof  of  the  vitality  of  tra- 
dition in  Rome,  that  the  very  island  of  the  Tiber,  the  very 
spot  on  the  island,  always  has  been  since  Roman  times,  and 
is  now,  the  seat  of  a  hospital,  the  hospital  of  S.  Giovanni 
di  Calabita  ? 

Another  curious  anecdote  is  this  :  It  seems  that  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Fabrician  bridge  (ponte  quattro  Capi\ 
leading  from  the  Campus  Martius  to  the  island,  there  were 
shops  for  the  sale  of  ex-votos  of  every  description,  exactly 
as  similar  shops  are  to  be  seen  now  along  the  approaches 
to  the  great  sanctuaries  of  Catholic  countries.  One  of  these 
shops  was  discovered  in  the  spring  of  1885  in  the  founda- 
tions of  the  left  embankment  of  the  Tiber.  It  contained  a 
large  number  of  anatomical  specimens  in  painted  terra-cotta, 
beautifully  modelled  from  nature,  and  representing  heads, 
ears,  eyes,  breasts,  arms,  hands,  knees,  legs,  feet,  ex-votos  to 

1  The  authenticity  of  this  tablet  is  rather  doubtful. 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.    71 

be  offered  by  happy  mothers,  etc.  The  most  interesting 
pieces  are  three  life-size  human  trunks,  cut  open  across  the 
front,  and  showing  the  whole  anatomical  apparatus  of  the 
various  organs,  such  as  the  lungs,  liver,  heart,  bowels,  etc. 
These  pieces  have  not  yet  been  examined  by  experts,  and 
consequently  I  am  not  able  to  say  whether  they  are  capa- 
ble of  throwing  any  light  on  ancient  hygienic  and  anatom- 
ical matters. 

We  must  not  suppose  that  men  of  education  would  resort 
to  such  absurdities  as  those  I  have  described  in  connection 
with  the  temple  of  ^Esculapius.  Cicero  has  strongly  con- 
demned the  practice  in  his  book,  "  De  Divinitate,"  but  the 
populace,  in  spite  of  such  good  advice,  adhered  to  its  igno- 
rance and  superstition ;  and  this  obstinacy  had  then,  and 
has  still,  such  a  firm  hold,  and  such  deep  roots  in  the  lowest 
classes  of  Italy,  that  only  three  years  ago,  in  September, 
1885,  when  the  cholera  broke  out  in  Sicily,  physicians 
trying  to  exercise  their  mission  of  charity  were  stabbed  and 
killed  by  dying  patients,  just  as  happened  in  similar  circum- 
stances in  Hungary  and  Croatia. 

Another  strange  practice,  imported  from  the  East  into 
Borne,  was  the  exposure  of  the  sick  in  the  streets  and  under 
open  porticoes,  in  order  that  passers-by  might  give  them  ad- 
vice from  personal  experience. 

The  first  physicians  in  Rome,  if  such  a  name  can  be 
applied  to  men  knowing  only  the  use  of  a  few  herbs  and 
potions,  came  from  the  Abruzzi  and  from  the  shores  of 
the  lake  of  Fucino.  In  process  of  time,  patrician  fami- 
lies secured,  at  a  high  price,  the  services  of  slaves,  ex- 
perts in  medicine,  to  whom  the  office  of  a  modern  valet 
de  chambre  was  assigned.  These  slaves,  emancipated  after 
long  successful  services,  used  to  open  shops  called  some- 
times Medicince,  sometimes  Pharmacopolce,  in  which  drugs 


72    SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

and  physic  were  sold,  and  surgical  operations  performed. 
For  these  operations  the  patient  was  put  into  an  anaes- 
thetic state  in  a  much  surer  way  than  is  now  done  with  chlo- 
roform or  laughing-gas.  A  successful  physician  was  sure 
to  receive  high  official  distinction.  Arcagathus,  a  Pelo- 
ponnesian  who  migrated  to  Rome  in  219,  not  only  was  re- 
warded with  citizenship,  but  obtained  a  residence,  with 
shop  and  office,  bought  at  public  expense.  Asclepias  from 
Drusa,  Bithynia,  was  almost  deified  by  the  populace,  and 
held  in  great  estimation  by  Crassus  and  Cicero.  Julius 
Caesar  was  the  first  statesman  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
hygienists,  by  recognizing  them  as  professors  of  a  liberal 
art,  with  rights  to  citizenship.  Augustus,  when  cured  by 
his  freedman,  Antonius  Musa,  of  a  dangerous  illness,  by 
means  of  fomentations  and  cold  compresses,  made  him  a 
knight,  honored  him  with  a  bronze  statue  in  the  temple  of 
.ZEsculapius,  and  exempted  forever  his  colleagues  from  any 
kind  of  income-tax.  Nero  organized  the  service  by  naming  an 
archiatrus,  or  superintendent  of  court-physicians.  Schools 
of  medicine  were  opened,  and  students  organized  themselves 
into  a  corporation,  the  seat  of  which  was  on  the  Esquiline. 
When  one  of  the  professors  was  called  to  visit  a  patient,  he 
was  followed  by  the  whole  body  of  pupils,  because,  there 
being  no  hospitals  at  the  tune,  this  was  the  only  way  by 
which  they  could  learn  and  gain  experience.  Martial  de- 
scribes one  of  these  professional  visits  in  the  ninth  epigram 
of  the  fifth  book,  and  relates  how  Dr.  Symmachus,  when 
sent  for,  came  at  once  to  his  bed,  accompanied  by  more 
than  one  hundred  disciples,  who,  one  by  one,  felt  his  pulse 
with  hands  almost  frozen  by  the  northern  wind,  or  tramon- 
tana,  which  happened  to  be  blowing  at  the  time. 

The  merit  of  organizing  a  service  of  public  assistance, 
in  the  true  modern  and  philanthropic  sense  of  the  word, 


SANITARY  CONDITIONS   OF  ANCIENT  ROME.    73 

belongs  to  Antoninus  Pius,  who  acted,  I  am  sure,  under 
the  indirect  pressure  of  Christian  influence  and  charity,  for 
the  new  faith  had  made  immense  progress  in  Rome  under 
his  wise  and  temperate  rule. 

The  new  sanitary  codex  comprised  the  institution  of  head- 
physicians  (archiatri]  in  every  inhabited  centre,  and  a  set 
of  rules  for  the  medical  service  in  the  largest  cities  of  the 
empire.  These  medical  officers  had  to  be  elected  by  the 
town  council,  and  to  be  approved  by  the  patres-familice.  In 
process  of  time  the  election  had  further  to  be  sanctioned 
by  the  College  of  Physicians  practising  in  the  same  town, 
and  even  by  the  Emperor  himself.  Assistance  to  the  poor 
was  compulsory  and  gratuitous. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PUBLIC    PLACES    OF   RESORT. 

PARKS,  gardens,  commons,  and  public  squares  have  been 
happily  compared  to  the  lungs  of  a  city  ;  and  if  the  health 
and  general  welfare  of  a  city  depend  upon  the  normal  and 
sound  function  of  its  respiratory  organs,  ancient  Rome, 
in  this  respect,  must  be  considered  as  the  healthiest  city 
which  has  ever  existed  on  earth.  Comparing  the  documents 
we  possess  on  Roman  topography,  texts  of  classics,  inscrip- 
tions, plans,  ruins,  and  so  forth,  we  learn  that  towards  the 
end  of  the  third  century  after  Christ  there  were  in  Rome 
eight  campi  or  commons,  green  spaces  set  apart  mostly  for 
foot-races  and  gymnastic  exercises ;  eighteen  fora  or  public 
squares,  and  about  thirty  parks  and  gardens,  which,  first 
laid  out  by  wealthy  citizens  for  their  private  comfort  or  for 
the  comfort  of  their  friends,  had  been  absorbed  into  the 
imperial  domain  by  right  of  purchase,  by  bequest,  or  by 
confiscation.  These  three  classes  of  open  spaces,  namely, 
commons,  forums,  and  parks,  are  far  from  representing  the 
total  amount  of  free  ground  which  the  citizens  could  enjoy 
at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night.  We  must  add  to  the  list 
the  cemeteries,  those  marble  cities  of  the  dead,  shadowed  by 
stately  cypresses  and  weeping- willows  ;  the  sacred  enclosures 
of  temples  with  their  colonnades  and  fountains  ;  the  porti- 
coes, expressly  built  for  the  sake  of  allowing  citizens  to  move 
about  pleasantly  in  hot  or  rainy  weather ;  and  lastly,  the 
great  thermce,  establishments  provided  with  every  possible 
comfort  and  accommodation  to  insure  the  health  of  the 


Pj      "    Tlr"%V" 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  75 

body  and  the  education  of  the  mind.  It  is  not  possible  to 
describe  all  these  groups  of  public  open  places  in  a  single 
chapter.  I  shall  simply  sketch  the  outline  of  this  important 
feature  of  ancient  Rome,  leaving  aside  commons,  ornamental 
cemeteries,  and  sacred  enclosures,  and  confining  myself  to 
forums,  baths,  and  public  parks. 

Beginning  with  the  forums  or  public  squares,  I  shah1 
speak  of  them  not  from  a  purely  artistic  or  archaeological 
point  of  view,  but  with  regard  to  their  capacity  for  giving 
to  the  citizens  free  movement  and  free  air. 

The  first  forum  of  Rome,  the  one  called  afterwards  the 
Forum  Romanum  magnum,  was  established  on  newly 
made  land,  on  ground  reclaimed  from  the  marshes  of  the 
Velabrum  : 

"  Hie  ubi  uunc  fora  sunt,  udae  tenuere  paludes  : 
nunc  solida  est  tellus,  sed  lacus  ante  f  uit !  " 

(Ovid,  Fasti  vi.  395.) 

It  answered  its  purpose  very  well  during  the  first  three  or 
four  centuries  of  Rome,  not  only  on  account  of  its  size,  but 
especiaUy  on  account  of  its  central  position,  and  of  the 
facility  of  access  from  the  neighboring  vaUeys. 

In  its  first  state,  the  forum  was  a  tract  of  gently  undu- 
lating, grassy,  damp  ground,  bordering  on  a  swamp,  sur- 
rounded on  two  sides  by  the  lofty  perpendicular  cliffs  of 
the  Palatine  and  of  the  Capitol,  and  used  exclusively  as 
a  public  market.  On  its  sides  there  were  a  few  conical 
straw  huts,  such  as  the  one  in  which  the  public  fire  was 
kept,  transformed  in  process  of  time  into  the  beautiful  tem- 
ple of  Vesta.  On  the  north  side,  directly  under  the  Capi- 
toline  hill,  there  were  some  stone  quarries,  called  Lautumice, 
afterwards  transformed  into  the  Career  Tullianum,  or  Ma- 
mertine  Prison.  There  were  also  two  fine  springs  of  water, 
one  issuing  from  these  quarries  or  Lautumiae,  the  same 


76  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

which  is  shown  to  visitors  as  a  miraculous  feature  of  S. 
Peter's  Prison  ;  the  other  issuing  from,  the  ivy-clad  rocks  of 
the  Palatine,  and  called  the  spring  of  Juturna.  The  first 
improvement,  made  at  an  early  date,  toward  the  regular 
arrangement  of  the  forum  was  the  drainage  of  the  stagnant 
waters  which  surrounded  it,  and  the  canalization  of  the  two 
above-mentioned  springs. 

Other  improvements  were  accomplished  under  the  kings. 
Numa  Pompilius  organized  the  service  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  public  fire  at  the  disposal  of  citizens,  and  built 
a  very  convenient  and  elaborate  hut  for  the  young  maid- 
ens, the  Vestals,  in  charge  of  the  fire,  and  for  the  high 
priest  charged  with  the  surveillance  of  this  department. 
Tullus  Hostilius  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  forum  a 
stone  enclosure,  called  the  Curia,  in  which  the  senators 
could  hold  their  meetings  ;  he  also  fenced  in  a  space  in 
front  of  the  Curia,  named  the  Comitium,  in  which  the  poll- 
ing for  election  took  place.  Tarquinius  Priscus  finally  gave 
to  the  forum  the  regular  shape  of  a  parallelogram,  which  it 
preserved  down  to  the  fall  of  the  empire,1  and  divided  the 
ground  surrounding  it  into  building  lots,  which  were  sold  to 
private  speculators  with  the  condition  that  shops  should  be 
built  there,  and  porticoes  on  the  fronts  of  the  houses  facing 
the  forum. 

Such  was  the  character  and  condition  of  the  public 
square  of  Rome  during  the  kingly  period.  It  does  not 
come  within  the  scope  of  this  chapter  to  follow,  stage  by 
stage,  even  by  centuries,  its  development  into  a  magnificent 
forum,  surrounded  by  stately  edifices.  I  will  satisfy  myself 
by  tracing  a  brief  outline  of  its  prominent  features  as  it 
appeared  near  the  end  of  the  Republic,  when,  having  be- 

1  The  forum  is  represented  in  every  existing  plan  as  a  trapezium,  whereas  it 
is  a  perfect  parallelogram. 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  77 

come  almost  ridiculously  small  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  people,  it  began  to  lose  its  individuality  by  the  addition 
of  other  fora,  far  larger  and  more  luxurious. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  republican  period,  obscure  pri- 
vate edifices,  shops,  and  houses,  had  totally  disappeared 
from  the  bordering  line  of  the  square,  and  had  made  room 
for  more  substantial  structures  of  a  public  character.  Be- 
ginning at  the  north  side,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  side  of 
the  Tarpeian  rock  and  of  the  Capitoline  hill,  the  first 
conspicuous  building  was  the  temple  of  Saturn,  used  not 
only  as  a  place  of  worship,  but  also  as  a  public  treasury  for 
civil  purposes.  As  a  place  of  worship,  it  was  remarkable 
on  account  of  its  strange  ritual :  it  was  the  only  temple  in 
Rome  which  the  devout  could  enter  with  heads  uncovered  ; 
it  was  the  first  to  have  inaugurated  the  use  of  burning  wax 
tapers ;  it  was  the  first  temple,  the  anniversary  feast  of 
which  —  the  well-known  Saturnalia  —  has  been  transformed 
in  progress  of  time  into  the  Carnival,  an  institution  once 
famous,  now  fast  dying  out  in  Italy.  Other  places  of  inter- 
est on  the  north  side  were  the  temple  of  Concord,  used  as 
a  military  treasury ;  the  Grsecostasis,  a  space  set  apart  for 
ambassadors  from  foreign  nations,  waiting  to  be  admitted 
into  the  Curia,  or  Senate-house,  and  the  State  Prison  above 
referred  to. 

The  east  side  was  occupied  by  two  structures  separated  by 
a  wide  street,  —  the  Senate-house  and  the  Court-house,  — 
called  Basilica  ^Emilia.  (In  the  middle  of  the  street  sep- 
arating the  Curia  from  the  Basilica,  there  was  the  small 
square  temple  of  Janus  Quadrifrons.}  Of  these  structures 
the  Senate-house  was,  politically  speaking,  the  most  impor- 
tant building  in  Rome,  in  spite  of  the  simplicity  of  its  ar- 
chitecture. It  was  an  oblong  hall,  eighty-five  feet  long, 
seventy-five  wide,  raised  on  a  platform  made  accessible  by  a 


78 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 


flight  of  steps,  the  same  down  which  the  body  of  King  Ser- 
vius  Tullius  had  been  hurled  by  Tarquinius.     Inside  it  con- 


The  Curia  (S.  Adriano)  in  the  Sixteenth  Century. 


tained  several  rows  of  wooden  benches,  the  Speaker's  desk, 
a  wooden  tribune,  and  behind  the  Speaker's  chair  a  small 
apartment  containing  the  archives  of  the  House.  So  ex- 
treme was  the  frugality  and  self-denial  of  those  worthy 
republican  senators,  that  they  had  never  allowed  their  hall 
to  be  warmed  in  the  depths  of  winter,  in  an  age  in  which 
even  the  houses  of  the  peasantry  had  been  furnished  with 
heating  apparatus.  In  a  letter  addressed  by  Cicero  to  his 
brother,  on  January  6,  692  A.  u.  c.,  he  relates  how  the 
Speaker  Appius,  having  summoned  the  senators  to  an  im- 
portant meeting,  tantum  fuit  frigus,  ut  populi  convicio 
coactus  sit  nos  dimittere,  it  grew  so  intensely  cold  that  he 
was  obliged  to  dismiss  the  assembly  and  expose  the  senators 
to  the  raillery  and  derision  of  the  populace. 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 


79 


In  the  year  700  A.  u.  c.  this  venerable  edifice,  more  than 
five  hundred  years  old,  was  burned  down  by  the  partisans 
of  Clodius,  the  fierce  tribune  whose  name  is  so  familiar 
to  students  of  Cicero.  The  revolutionary  instincts  of  the 
mob  having  been  aroused  and  excited  by  violent  speeches, 
a  certain  Sextus  Clodius,  a  scribe,  broke  into  the  adjoining 
Senate-hall  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  roughs,  carrying  on 
their  shoulders  the  corpse  of  the  murdered  anarchist ;  and 
having  made  a  kind  of  pyre  of  the  benches,  tables,  books, 


The  Curia  (now  the  Church  of  S.  Adriano)  in  its  present  condition. 

and  shelves,  set  everything  into  a  blaze,  and  burned  with 
the  corpse  of  Clodius  the  Curia  itself,  and  the  adjoining 
Court-house,  then  called  the  Basilica  Portia. 

I  have  spoken  more  at  length  of  this  building  and  of  its 


80  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

conflagration  in  the  year  700,  because  its  reconstruction  by 
Julius  Caesar  and  Augustus,  together  with  the  reconstruction 
of  the  adjoining  Court-house,  marks  the  period  of  the 
transformation  of  the  old  forum  itself,  as  I  shall  presently 
relate. 

To  complete  our  tour  along  the  two  remaining  sides  of 
the  square,  I  shall  mention  on  the  south  side,  the  fornix 
Fabianus,  a  triumphal  arch  raised  in  the  year  633  of  Rome 
to  Fabius  Maximus  Allobrogicus,  the  conqueror  of  Savoy, 
one  of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  very  oldest,  arch  in  the  city, 
the  remains  of  which  we  brought  to  light  in  March,  1882  ; 
the  temple  of  Vesta  and  the  convent  of  the  Vestals,  the 
discovery  of  which  will  form  the  subject  of  my  sixth  chap- 
ter; and  lastly,  the  cedes  Castorum,  temple  of  Castor  and 
Pollux,  built  on  the  very  spot  at  which  the  two  Dioscuri 
had  been  miraculously  seen  watering  their  horses  at  the 
spring  of  Juturna,  to  announce  the  great  victory  of  Lake 
Regillus,  gained  by  the  Romans  on  that  same  day,  in 
496  B.  c. 

The  western  and  last  side  was  still  and  for  the  greater 
portion  occupied  by  rows  of  shops.  Originally  they  were 
of  an  inferior  order,  mostly  butcher  shops,  such  as  the  one 
from  which  Virginius  is  said  to  have  seized  the  knife  with 
which  he  avenged  the  honor  of  his  violated  daughter.  Later 
on,  the  butchers  gave  up  the  place  to  schoolmasters  for 
elementary  teaching.  Lastly,  towards  the  end  of  the  Re- 
public, brokers,  bankers,  and  money  lenders  and  changers 
took  absolute  possession  of  the  place,  and  transformed  it 
into  a  real  Wall  Street.  As  regards  the  square  itself,  the 
proper  area  of  the  forum,  it  was  full  of  every  kind  of  ob- 
struction ;  so  much  so,  that  we  wonder  how  in  such  a  small 
and  encumbered  space  the  actual  populace  could  move 
about. 


PUBLIC  PLACES    OF  RESORT.  81 

In  the  first  place,  there  was  another  populace  of  stone, 
marble,  and  bronze  :  the  well  known  statue  of  Marsjas,  near 
the  Rostra,  the  daily  meeting-place  of  lawyers  and  attorneys 
of  an  inferior  rank,  selected  also  by  Julia,  daughter  of  Au- 
gustus, for  her  nocturnal  rendezvous  :  the  one  of  Tatius, 
marking  the  spot  in  which  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the 
Romans  and  the  Sabines  had  been  sworn  ;  those  of  Atta  Na- 
vius,  Pythagoras,  and  Alcibiades,  near  the  Senate-house ;  the 
bronze  statue  of  Servius  Sulpicius,  whose  descendants  had  the 
right  of  occupying  a  space  of  five  feet  square,  free  of  pay- 
ment, in  front  of  the  statue  itself,  on  the  occasion  of  glad- 
iatorial games,  shows,  and  festivities  ;  a  stone  lion,  marking 
the  spot  in  which  Faustulus,  the  tutor  of  Romulus,  had 
been  buried,  according  to  an  early  tradition ;  the  statues  of 
Horatius  Codes ;  of  the  ambassadors  murdered  at  Fidense ; 
of  Q.  Marcius  Tremulus,  the  conqueror  of  the  Hernici,  and 
so  forth.  So  great  was  the  hindrance  created  by  this  army 
of  statues,  that  in  the  year  156  B.  c.  the  censor  Cornelius 
Scipio  was  obliged  to  clear  away  the  whole  crowd,  respect- 
ing only  those  which  had  been  put  up  by  a  decree  of  the 
Senate.  The  second  obstruction  was  the  trees,  of  every 
age  and  quality :  the  Ficus  Ruminalis,  which  Tacitus  de- 
scribes as  having  shown  the  first  signs  of  decay  eight  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  years  after  the  twin  infants  Romulus 
and  Remus  had  been  exposed  under  its  shade  ;  a  lotus-tree 
growing  between  the  temples  of  Saturn  and  Concord,  de- 
scribed by  Masurius  as  older  than  Rome  itself ;  a  fig-tree, 
which  was  cut  down  at  the  age  of  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
one  years,  because  its  roots  had  undermined  and  nearly 
overturned  an  old  stone  figure  of  Sylvanus  ;  a  vine  and  an 
olive-tree  near  the  spring  of  Juturna,  and  others. 

I  shall  not  speak  of  the  Rostra  or  public  tribune,  of  the 
Columna  rostrata  raised  in  honor  of  C.  Duillius,  the  Roman 


82  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

admiral  who  defeated  the  Carthaginian  fleet ;  of  the  Puteal 
Scribonianum,  marking  a  spot  struck  by  lightning,  and 
made  sacred ;  of  the  Jani,  or  four-faced  porches,  because  the 
description  of  these  prominent  features  of  the  forum  would 
lead  me  far  from  the  special  topic  of  the  present  lecture. 
I  will  conclude  my  brief  sketch  by  remarking  that,  besides 
the  obstacles  already  described,  the  square  and  its  vicinity 
were  occupied  by  certain  classes  of  people,  not  particularly 
distinguished,  who  so  constantly  haunted  this  or  that  special 
corner  of  the  place  that  they  actually  were  nicknamed  from 
it.  Thus  we  hear  of  the  Subrostrani,  attorneys  and  lawyers 
without  employment,  who  haunted  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Rostra ;  of  the  Canalicolce,  drunkards  keeping  themselves 
near  the  Canalis,  a  place  the  explanation  of  which  is  given 
by  Plautus  in  Curculio,  iv.  1 ;  and  in  a  more  general  man- 
ner we  hear  of  the  forenses,  habitues  of  the  forum,  who 
used  to  spend  hours  upon  hours  in  laziness  and  gossip  near 
the  Solarium,  or  sun-dial,  or  near  the  Tabula  Valeria,  a  kind 
of  panorama  of  the  battle  gained  by  M.  Valerius  Messalla 
over  King  Hieron  of  Syracuse,  painted  on  the  outside  wall 
of  the  Senate-house  in  the  year  492  A.  u.  c.  Fruit-sell- 
ers had  taken  possession  of  the  ascents  leading  from  the 
forum  to  the  top  of  the  Velia ;  jewellers,  goldsmiths,  mak- 
ers of  musical  instruments,  of  the  Sacred  Way ;  perfumers, 
of  the  Tuscan  Street  (vicus  Tuscus),  leading  to  the  Circus 
Maximus ;  copyists,  sellers  of  books  and  literary  novelties, 
of  the  Argiletum,  a  street  leading  toward  the  ill-famed 
Subura,  which  was  also  the  rendezvous  of  pickpockets,  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  in  the  afternoon  to  partake 
and  otherwise  dispose  of  the  morning's  booty.  Then  there 
was  a  special  place  in  the  forum  for  usurers,  lenders,  and 
changers  of  money ;  another,  the  porticoes  of  the  Basilica}, 
for  fishmongers,  who  poisoned  the  clients  of  the  court- 
house with  the  offensive  smell  of  their  merchandise. 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  83 

The  first  important  step  towards  the  improvement  of  this 
obnoxious  state  of  things  was  taken  in  the  seventh  century 
of  Rome  by  the  construction  of  a  fish-market  or  forum 
piscatorium.  Then  followed  the  construction  of  the  Basil- 
icae  Fulvia,  Porcia,  Sempronia,  which  being  surrounded  by 
porticoes,  and  kept  constantly  open  day  and  night,  increased, 
in  a  certain  measure,  the  accommodation  of  the  frequenters 
of  the  forum.  In  the  year  699,  M.  ^Emilius  Paulus  bought 
private  property  on  the  east  side  of  the  forum  for  the  sum 
of  $2,400,000,  and  built  his  superb  Basilica  ^Emilia,  called 
by  Cicero  magnificentissima.  The  reason  for  this  great 
undertaking  is  given  by  the  same  writer  ;  ut  forum  laxa- 
remus,  to  enlarge  the  area  and  extent  of  the  forum.  The 
Basilica,  the  finest  ever  built  in  Rome,  was  dedicated  twenty 
years  after  the  beginning  of  the  work  in  719  A.  u.  c. ; 
eighteen  years  afterwards,  when  it  had  been  injured  by  fire, 
Augustus  and  other  friends  of  ^Emilius  Paulus  supplied  the 
funds  necessary  to  restore  the  edifice,  and  to  decorate  it 
with  the  famous  columns  of  pavonazetto  marble,  which 
were  transferred  five  centuries  later  to  the  basilica  of  S. 
Paul  outside  the  walls  (perhaps  on  account  of  the  similar- 
ity of  their  names),  and  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the 
great  fire  of  1823. 

The  work  of  ^Emilius  Paulus  was  continued  by  Julius 
Caesar.  So  enormous  was  the  sum  of  money  which  he 
spent  in  the  year  702  to  purchase  the  area  for  his  new 
forum  (an  extension  of  the  old  one)  that  even  the  unim- 
pressionable Pliny  exclaims,  pyramides  regum  miramur, 
cum  solum  tantum  foro  exstruendo  US  millies  Ccesar 
dictator  emerit !  "  We  wonder  at  the  Egyptian  pyramids, 
when  Caesar,  as  dictator,  spent  one  hundred  millions  of  ses- 
terces merely  for  the  ground  on  which  to  build  his  forum  !  " 
The  sum  of  one  hundred  millions  of  sesterces,  mentioned  by 


84  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  HE  SORT. 

Pliny  and  confirmed  by  Suetonius,  corresponds  to  four  mil- 
lion dollars ;  and  as  the  area  purchased  by  Caesar  does 
not  exceed  ninety  thousand  square  feet,  it  is  evident  he 
must  have  paid,  on  an  average,  $ 44.45  per  foot.  This 
forum  of  Caesar  took  the  shape  of  a  sacred  enclosure  sur- 
rounding the  temple  of  Venus  Genetrix,  so  named  because 
this  goddess  was  considered  by  Caesar  to  be  the  one  from 
whom  his  own  family  had  originated.  The  statue  of  the 
'  divinity  was  a  masterpiece  by  Arcesilaos,  and  a  masterpiece 
also  was  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  dictator  himself, 
placed  in  front  of  the  temple.  The  horse  was  carefully 
modelled  from  nature.  In  the  sixty-first  chapter  of  his  Life 
of  Caesar,  Suetonius  speaks  at  length  of  this  famous  charger. 
It  was  a  charger,  he  says,  whose  fore-feet  were  nearly  hu- 
man, the  hoofs  being  split  in  imitation  of  toes.  The  animal 
was  foaled  in  the  family  mews ;  and  as  the  augurs,  when 
asked  to  explain  the  miracle  of  the  hoofs,  had  declared  that 
it  portended  the  empire  of  the  world  for  his  master,  Caesar 
devoted  himself  to  the  education  of  the  colt,  and  the  colt 
conceived  such  an  affection  for  his  master  that  he  would 
never  allow  himself  to  be  fed,  or  taken  care  of,  or  ridden 
by  anybody  else.  The  temple  of  Venus  Genetrix  contained 
famous  paintings  by  Greek  artists,  which  Pliny  describes ; 
six  collections  of  engraved  gems  and  cameos ;  and  a  breast- 
plate for  the  statue  of  the  goddess,  entirely  covered  with 
pearls  from  Britain. 

Augustus  followed  the  example  of  Caesar,  and  in  continu- 
ation of  the  two  forums  built  a  third  one,  still  more  mag- 
nificent, named  the  forum  Augustum,  or  else  the  forum 
Martis  from  the  temple  of  Mars  the  Avenger,  which  stood 
in  the  middle  of  it.  The  reason  given  by  Augustus  himself 
for  this  work  was  the  absolute  insufficiency  of  the  two  pre- 
vious forums  for  the  transaction  of  business  and  the  admin- 


REMAINS    OF   THE    FORUM   OF   AUGUSTUS   AND   THE   TEMPLE   OF 

MARS    ULTOR. 


PUBLIC  PLACES  OF  RESORT.  85 

istration  of  justice.  No  words  could  describe  the  beauty  of 
this  architectural  chef-d'oeuvre,  the  remains  of  which,  known 
by  the  modern  name  of  the  Arco  de'  Pantani,  rank  among 
the  very  finest  of  ancient  Rome.  The  most  notable  feature 
of  the  place  was  a  gallery  of  statues,  representing  the  gen- 
erals who  by  their  exploits  and  victories  had  increased  the 
power  of  Rome,  and  had  subjugated  to  it  more  than  one 
half  of  the  old  world.  I  can  only  mention  the  fourth 
forum,  built  by  Vespasian,  and  the  fifth,  begun  by  Do- 
mitian  and  completed  by  Nerva.  Although  smaller  and 
altogether  less  remarkable  than  the  three  preceding  ones, 
they  would  have  been  the  pride  of  any  other  town  than 
Rome.  In  Vespasian's  forum,  dedicated  to  Peace  (forum 
Pads),  the  gold  vessels  and  the  seven-branched  candlestick 
from  the  great  temple  of  Zion  had  been  deposited,  as  a 
votive  offering  to  the  goddess.  In  Domitian's  forum,  ded- 
icated to  Minerva,  there  was  another  gallery  of  portrait- 
statues,  in  imitation,  or  rather  as  an  extension,  of  the  one 
exhibited  in  the  forum  of  Augustus.  The  statues  were  of 
colossal  size,  and  represented  the  Roman  emperors.  One 
only  has  come  down  to  us,  the  so-called  Pyrrhus,  placed  at 
the  foot  of  the  staircase  of  the  Capitoline  Museum,  and 
noticeable  for  the  really  shameful  way  in  which  it  was  re- 
stored, altered,  and  disfigured  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century. 

We  must  now  enter  the  last  and  most  magnificent  square 
belonging  to  the  group  I  have  attempted  to  describe,  the 
forum  of  Trajan,  the  handsomest  and  costliest  monument 
of  ancient  Rome.  To  fully  explain  its  importance  as  a  mas- 
terpiece, not  only  of  architecture,  but  also  of  engineering,  I 
must  lay  before  the  reader's  eyes  a  sketch  of  the  topo- 
graphical conditions  of  the  centre  of  the  town,  in  connec- 
tion with  its  viability  and  traffic. 


86  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

The  Capitoline  hill,  situated  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
town,  originally  was  not  isolated,  as  it  is  at  present,  but  was 
connected  with  the  adjoining  Quirinal  hill  by  a  high  ridge, 
which  sloped  sharply  down  towards  the  Roman  forum  on 
the  south  side,  towards  the  Campus  Martius  on  the  north 
side.  In  other  words,  it  was  not  an  isolated  hill,  which 
the  daily  tide  of  the  city  traffic  could  turn  on  every  side, 
as  is  the  case  now ;  it  was  a  barrier,  an  obstacle,  an  ob- 
struction, which  cut  the  town  and  its  traffic  right  in  two, 
and  could  only  be  overcome  in  one  of  two  ways :  either  by 
ascending  and  then  descending  the  steep  ridge  which  con- 
nected it  with  the  Quirinal,  along  a  lane  corresponding  with 
the  modern  Via  Marf orio, —  a  lane  only  ten  feet  wide,  with  a 
gradient  of  12  to  100,  which  crossed  the  ridge  at  its  lowest 
point,  or  by  rounding  the  Capitol  on  the  river-side.  The 
passage  could  be  accomplished  on  this  side  on  level  ground, 
it  is  true,  but  it  was  three  times  as  long  as  a  direct  line 
carried  across  the  ridge  ;  and  besides,  fancy  what  the  con- 
dition of  the  traffic  must  have  been  in  that  narrow  strip  of 
land  between  the  Capitol  and  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber, 
which  afforded  the  only  possible  line  of  communication  be- 
tween two  halves  of  a  city  inhabited  by  nearly  two  million 
souls  ! 

To  obviate  the  evil,  to  allow  citizens  freedom  of  move- 
ment, to  relieve  the  streets  surrounding  the  Capitol  on  the 
river-side  from  the  pressure  of  traffic,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
to  double  at  once  the  surface  of  the  five  existing  forums, 
Trajan  conceived  the  idea  of  severing  the  Capitol  from  the 
Quirinal,  of  cutting  away  the  ridge,  and  of  substituting  for 
it  a  level  passage,  nearly  six  hundred  feet  wide.  His  plans 
were  carried  into  execution  by  a  skilful  man,  the  architect 
Apollodorus,  in  about  fifteen  years'  time.  To  give  an  ap- 
proximate idea  of  the  importance  of  the  work,  I  will  men- 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  87 

tion  two  things  only :  first,  that  private  property,  built  on 
each  side  and  on  the  top  of  the  ridge,  must  have  been  pur- 
chased and  appropriated  to  the  extent  of  some  275,000 
square  feet.  Supposing  the  price  paid  by  Trajan  to  be  the 
same  as  that  paid  by  Julius  Caesar  for  the  area  of  his  forum, 
namely,  $44.45  per  square  foot,  the  ground  alone  must  have 
cost  Trajan  the  sum  of  $12,223,000.  The  second  remark 
refers  to  the  work  of  cutting,  excavating,  and  carting  away 
the  mountain.  So  great  was  the  astonishment  created  by 
the  titanic  achievement,  even  in  a  city  accustomed  to  won- 
ders, that  the  well-known  column,  that  prototype  of  monu- 
mental pillars,  was  erected  at  a  public  cost  ad  declarandum 
quantoB  altitudinis  mons  et  locus  sit  egestus,  —  "  to  show 
to  posterity  how  high  rose  the  mountain  levelled  by  the 
Emperor."  Trajan's  column  is  one  hundred  and  forty  feet 
high,  from  the  pavement  of  the  forum  to  the  top  of  the 
bronze  statue.  This  circumstance  helps  us  to  state  the  total 
amount  of  earth  and  rock  removed  to  make  room  for  the 
forum  at  24,000,000  cubic  feet.  I  have  made  investiga- 
tions all  over  the  Campagna,  within  a  radius  of  three  or 
four  miles  from  the  walls,  to  discover  the  place  where  the 
24,000,000  cubic  feet  were  carted  and  dumped,  but  my 
efforts  have  not,  as  yet,  been  crowned  with  success.  This 
fact  leads  me  to  suppose  that  the  enormous  mass  might 
perhaps  have  been  utilized  to  fill  up  some  marshy  district 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Rome. 

The  reader  must  not  imagine  this  forum  of  Trajan  as  a 
simple  square,  surrounded  by  porticoes,  and  ornamented 
more  or  less  abundantly  with  works  of  art.  The  forum  of 
Trajan  comprised  seven  different  sections,  namely :  the  pro- 
pylaia,  or  triumphal  arch  of  the  Emperor ;  the  square  itself, 
with  the  equestrian  statue  in  the  middle  ;  the  Basilica  Ulpia  ; 
the  Bibliotheca  Ulpia  ;  the  two  hemicycles  ;  the  monumen- 


88 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 


tal  column ;  and  the  temple  of  Trajan.  The  ensemble  of 
these  various  sections  was  considered  not  only  the  master- 
piece of  Roman  architecture  of  the  golden  age,  but  one 
of  the  marvels  of  the  world.  Let  me  quote  the  words  with 


Column  and  Forum  of  Trajan. 

which  Ammianus  Marcellinus  (xvi.  10)  describes  the  impres- 
sions felt  by  the  Emperor  Constantius  at  the  first  sight  of 
the  group  :  "  Having  now  entered  the  forum  of  Trajan,  the 
most  marvellous  creation  of  human  genius,  —  singular  em 
sub  omni  ccdo  structuram,  —  he  was  struck  with  admira- 
tion, and  looked  around  in  amazement,  without  being  able 
to  utter  a  word,  wondering  at  the  gigantic  structures,  — 
giganteos  contextus,  —  which  no  pen  can  describe,  and  which 
mankind  can  create  and  see  only  once  in  the  course  of  cen- 
turies. Having  consequently  given  up  any  hope  of  build- 
ing himself  anything  which  would  approach,  even  at  a  re- 
spectful distance,  the  work  of  Trajan,  he  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  equestrian  statue  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  89 

forum,  and  said  to  his  attendants  he  would  have  one  like  it 
in  Constantinople."  These  words  having  been  heard  by 
Hormisdas,  a  young  Persian  prince  attached  to  his  court, 
he  turned  quietly  towards  the  Emperor,  and  said,  "  If 
your  majesty  wants  to  secure  and  keep  such  a  horse,  you 
must  first  provide  him  with  a  stable  like  this."  So  far 
Ammianus  MarceUinus. 

Cassiodorius  asserts  that,  no  matter  how  many  times 
one  saw  this  forum,  it  would  always  appear  a  prodigious, 
a  miraculous  work,  more  than  the  work  of  man.  Such 
being  the  estimation  in  which  Trajan's  masterpiece  was  held 
in  ancient  times,  such  being  its  beauty  and  perfection,  I 
cannot  attempt  to  enter  into  details,  and  describe  one  by 
one  its  various  sections  and  their  contents.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  by  the  addition  of  Trajan's  forum  to  the  five  which 
already  existed,  the  whole  space  put  at  the  disposal  of  the 
people  of  Rome,  for  meeting  in  public,  for  promenading, 
for  the  transaction  of  business  or  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  so  forth,  was  brought  to  the  grand  total  of 
twenty-five  and  one  half  acres.  This  space  contained  thir- 
teen temples,  three  basilicas,  or  court-houses,  eight  trium- 
phal arches,  the  house  of  parliament,  thousands  of  life-size 
statues  in  bronze  and  marble,  porticoes  more  than  one  mile 
long,  and  supported  by  about  twelve  hundred  columns,  pub- 
lic libraries  and  archives,  and  the  finest  and  richest  shops  of 
the  metropolis. 

Next  to  forums  I  must  speak  of  the  baths  as  places  of 
public  resort.  At  the  end  of  the  third  century  after  Christ, 
Rome  numbered  11  large  public  thermae,  and  926  smaller 
ones  conducted  under  private  enterprise.  The  baths  of 
Caracalla  alone  could  accommodate,  at  one  time,  1,600 
people  ;  the  baths  of  Diocletian,  3,600.  Taking  1,500  as 


90  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

the  average  accommodation  of  each  of  the  public  thermce, 
and  50  as  that  of  each  of  the  private  baths,  we  learn  that  in 
ancient  Rome,  at  any  minute,  62,800  citizens  could  restore 
their  strength  in  baths  of  every  nature  and  description  ;  and 
this,  without  bringing  into  the  calculation  the  Tiber,  the 
Anio,  the  Lake  of  Agrippa,  and  the  bathing  accommoda- 
tions with  which  every  Roman  house  was  abundantly  fur- 
nished. These  dry  figures  and  statistics  concern  only  clean- 
liness and  bodily  health.  But  for  those  who  frequented  the 
great  thermae  bathing  was  the  very  last  thought,  —  I  mean 
for  the  fashionable  habitues  of  imperial  times ;  since  the 
earlier  generations,  those  which  had  made  Rome  the  queen 
of  the  world,  had  always  considered  the  bath  as  the  most 
important  event  and  the  most  essential  requirement  in  the 
every-day  life.  In  course  of  time,  and  under  the  corrup- 
tion which  began  to  contaminate  Roman  society  after  the 
conquest  of  the  East,  bodily  health  and  cleanliness,  although 
the  original  object,  had  long  ceased  to  be  the  only  one ;  for 
the  thermae,  decorated  with  prodigal  magnificence,  and  sup- 
plied with  ah1  the  comforts,  conveniences,  and  novelties 
that  a  voluptuary  could  desire,  had  become  places  of  amuse- 
ment, whither  people  repaired  for  pastime  and  enjoyment. 
They  were,  in  a  word,  gigantic  clubs,  where  the  elegant 
youth  passed  the  whole  day,  at  least  the  hours  in  which  the 
establishments  were  kept  open.  Of  course,  the  number  of 
hours  varied  according  to  the  season,  or  the  good-will  of 
the  Emperor.  The  opening  was  announced  by  the  sound 
of  a  bell  heard  at  a  great  distance.  Sonat  ces  thermarum  ! 
was  the  exclamation  popular  among  the  anxiously  waiting 
habitues.  A  great  deal  has  been  written  by  Salmasius,  Ma- 
rini,  Becker,  and  other  antiquarians  about  the  hours  for 
opening  and  closing  the  public  baths.  The  truth  is  that 
they  varied  at  different  periods,  from  sunrise  until  sunset. 


y..^&*&x&im~-~- 


Urnt  /:-r r  ;'*ili«fiai1'*  f -C^"- 

i?**S^^»  flail 


P«Wii^ 


O 


_> 
2 

Q 
3 
2 

w 

H 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  91 

Pliny  the  younger  says  that  his  friend  Spurinna  bathed  in 
winter  at  the  ninth  hour,  in  summer  at  the  eighth.  Vopis- 
cus  mentions  the  ninth  as  the  opening  hour.  T7iermce 
apud  veteres  non  ante  nonam  aperiebantur.  The  Emperor 
Hadrian  made  a  new  regulation.  He  ordered  that  nobody 
should  enter  the  thermae  before  the  eighth  hour  of  the  day 
except  those  provided  with  a  certificate  from  the  attendant 
physician,  and  absolutely  no  one  after  sunset.  Severus 
Alexander  not  only  caused  the  gates  to  be  opened  again  at 
sunrise,  but  ordered  them  to  be  kept  open  until  late  at  night, 
defraying  the  expense  of  illumination  from  his  own  private 
purse.  The  Emperor  Tacitus  again  restricted  the  time  to 
the  length  of  the  day,  as  the  concession  made  by  his  prede- 
cessor had  given  occasion  to  great  nocturnal  disturbances ; 
but  probably  this  did  not  continue  long  in  force,  for  we 
find  again  in  the  Codex  of  Justinian  a  certain  sum  allotted 
to  the  cost  of  lighting.  Thermae  became  by  degrees  places 
of  the  most  foolish  debauchery.  Suetonius  relates  of  Calig- 
ula that  he  imagined  unheard-of  refinements  in  bathing  and 
eating,  and  that  he  carried  the  luxury  of  bathing  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  took  his  bath,  not  in  water,  but  in  tepid  per- 
fumes. Helagabalus,  the  mad  youth  who  put  vases  of  mur- 
rha  (the  costliest  and  most  precious  material  known  to  the 
ancients)  to  the  vilest  uses  of  the  imperial  household,  used 
to  swim  in  basins  the  water  of  which  had  been  mixed  with 
the  oil  of  saffron. 

With  regard  to  the  custom  of  allowing  both  sexes  to 
bathe  at  the  same  time,  the  regulations  were  changed  under 
different  emperors.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Roman  women, 
even  the  noblest  of  them,  visited  the  public  baths  ;  but,  as 
a  rule,  they  were  provided  with  separate  rooms.  Atia, 
the  mother  of  Augustus,  after  the  fabulous  rencontre  in 
the  Temple  of  Apollo,  bore  on  her  person  the  indelible 


92  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

mark  of  a  serpent,  to  conceal  which  from  indiscreet  eyes 
she  was  obliged  to  give  up  frequenting  public  baths.  Juve- 
nal and  Martial  allude  very  often  to  the  gross  immoral- 
ity of  the  men  and  women  bathing  together  ;  but  we  must 
not  believe  that  the  immorality  was  general.  Hadrian  was 
the  first  Emperor  to  put  an  end  to  this  shameful  disorder, 
though  only  for  a  brief  period ;  because  the  periodical  re- 
*  newal  of  these  interdicts  shows  that  the  evil  could  not 
be  eradicated.  In  1870,  an  inscription  was  found  near 
some  private  baths  in  the  Trastevere,  containing  the  fol- 
lowing notice :  "  By  order  of  the  mighty  god  Sylvanus, 
women  are  prohibited  from  stepping  into  the  swimming 
basin  reserved  for  the  men."  This  inscription  shows  that 
police  regulations  were  not  enough  to  keep  fast  women  in 
order,  and  that  the  owners  of  baths,  responsible  for  the 
decency  of  their  establishments,  were  obliged  to  resort 
to  the  intervention  of  the  gods.  The  last  thing  we  hear 
on  this  subject  is  a  general  decree  promulgated  by  Hela- 
gabalus,  by  which  promiscuous  bathing  was  allowed  every- 
where and  at  all  hours.  Let  us  follow  one  of  the  ele- 
gant youths  of  Rome  into  one  of  the  great  thermae.  He  is 
welcomed  at  his  entrance  by  the  ostiarius,  or  porter,  a  tall, 
majestic  fellow  with  a  sword  at  his  side,  and  by  the  cap  so- 
rius,  or  wardrobe  -  keeper,  who  takes  charge  of  his  wraps. 
Then  follows  a  general  salutation  and  kissing  of  friends, 
exchange  of  the  last  topics  and  scandals  of  the  day ;  read- 
ing of  the  newspapers,  or  acta  diurna.  The  visitor  then 
selects  the  kind  of  bath  which  may  suit  his  particular  case, 
—  cold,  tepid,  warm,  shower,  or  perspiration  bath.  The 
bath  over,  the  real  business  begins,  as,  for  example,  taking 
a  constitutional  up  and  down  the  beautiful  grounds,  in- 
dulging in  athletic  sports  or  simple  gymnastics  to  restore 
circulation,  and  to  prepare  himself  for  the  delights  of  the 
table. 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  93 

The  luxurious  meal  finished,  the  gigantic  club-house 
could  supply  him  with  every  kind  of  amusement :  libra- 
ries, concerts,  literary  entertainments,  reading  of  the  latest 
poems  or  novels,  popular  or  Barnum-like  shows,  conversa- 
tion with  the  noblest  and  most  beautiful  women.  Very 
often  a  second  bath  was  taken  to  prepare  for  the  evening 
meal.  All  this  could  be  done  by  three  or  four  thousand 
persons  at  one  and  the  same  time,  without  confusion  or 
delay,  because  of  the  great  number  of  servants  and  slaves 
attached  to  the  establishment. 

The  excavations  and  discoveries  which  Abel  Blouet  made 
in  1824,  Guidi  in  1878,  and  ourselves  during  the  last  fif- 
teen years  in  the  baths  of  Caracalla,  show  clearly  how  the 
service  was  organized.  It  was  carried  on  entirely  under- 
ground, by  means  of  crypto-porticoes,  which  allowed  the 
servants  to  appear  suddenly  everywhere,  and  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  visitors  without  crossing  the  halls  and 
without  interfering  with  the  circulation  of  the  noble  crowd. 
In  fact,  we  have  discovered  a  fragment  of  the  "  order  of  the 
day,"  or  programme  of  the  distribution  of  service  on  the 
•  nineteenth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  226 -1 

This  unique  and  most  remarkable  document,  which  we 
were  fortunate  enough  to  bring  to  light  in  January,  1881, 
was  evidently  written  by  one  of  the  overseers  in  charge  of 
a  special  department,  say,  for  instance,  the  department  of 
the  wardrobe ;  and  for  the  want  of  the  proper  material 
it  was  written  with  a  black  pencil  on  a  piece  of  marble, 
evidently  belonging  to  the  incrustation  of  the  walls  of 
the  room  which  was  used  as  an  office.  It  contains,  first, 
the  above  mentioned  date  (April  19th)  and  the  name  of 
the  Emperor,  Severus  Alexander.  Then  follows  a  list  of 

1  The  year  is  not  absolutely  certain,  as  of  the  two  consuls  only  Severus 
Alexander  is  mentioned. 


94  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

names  of  slaves  and  servants,  such  as  Zoticus,  Gaudentius, 
Panacius,  Januarius,  Stephanus,  etc.,  and  near  each  name 
a  number,  which  varies  from  a  minimum  of  one  half  to  a 
maximum  of  three  and  a  half,  —  numbers  which  probably 
refer  to  the  hours  of  duty  of  each  individual. 

I  have  spoken  of  public  squares  and  of  baths  as  places 
of  resort  and  enjoyment  for  the  people  of  Rome ;  I  come 
now  to  another  special  characteristic,  —  that  of  the  porti- 
coes, which  occupied  the  whole  plain  of  the  Campus  Mar- 
tius,  stretching  from  the  foot  of  the  hills  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  river  to  the  river  itself.  They  followed  one  another 
almost  without  interval,  filling  up  the  spaces  between  the 
great  buildings,  such  as  the  circuses,  theatres,  stadia,  tem- 
ples, etc.  Between  the  Capitol,  the  Quirinal,  and  the  river, 
not  less  than  twenty  porticoes  were  erected.  Under  the 
republican  rule  they  were  almost  a  rarity;  and  besides,  the 
few  that  existed  at  that  time  were  built,  not  as  mere  places 
of  pleasant  meeting,  but  with  a  definite  and  more  practical 
aim.  Thus  the  portions  Minucia  served  as  a  corn  ex- 
change ;  the  one  surrounding  the  forum  Olitorium  as  a 
market  for  fresh  vegetables ;  that  around  the  theatre  of 
Pompey  was  a  place  of  rehearsal  for  choruses,  and  a  ref- 
uge for  spectators  in  case  of  sudden  rain.  Augustus  made 
porticoes  popular ;  he  introduced  the  fashion  and  taste  for 
them,  either  building  them  with  his  own  money,  or  else 
helping  and  inviting  his  personal  friends  and  admirers  to 
follow  his  example.  In  less  than  twenty  years  the  whole 
Campus  Martius  was  covered  with  colonnades.  Augustus 
himself  constructed  the  Portico  of  Octavia,  the  ruins  of  which 
are  such  a  prominent  landmark  in  the  Ghetto,  or  Jewish 
quarter  of  modern  Rome ; l  another  near  Pompey's  theatre, 

1  This  picturesque  corner  of   the  city  was  levelled  to  the  ground  in  the 
spring  of  1887. 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 


95 


called  Ad  Nationes,  on  account  of  some  colossal  statues 
representing  the  various  nations  of  the  world ;  and  lastly,  he 
rebuilt  from  the  foundations  the  one  named  Corinthian,  on 
account  of  the  capitals  of  the  columns  being  made  of  gilt  Co- 
rinthian brass.  Cornelius  Balbus,  an  intimate  friend  of  the 


Remains  of  the  Portico  of  Octavia. 

emperor,  built  his  famous  Crypta  at  the  rear  of  his  theatre, 
the  ruins  of  which  we  are  now  engaged  in  bringing  to  light. 
Marcius  Philippus  built  the  portico  which  surrounded  the 
Temple  of  Hercules  ;  Vipsanius  Agrippa,  the  prime  minis- 
ter and  faithful  adviser  of  Augustus,  went  further,  and  in 
the  magnificence  and  grandeur  of  his  constructions  cast 
into  the  shade  both  predecessors  and  contemporaries.  To 
him  the  Romans  were  indebted  for  the  portions  Vipsania, 
so  named  from  his  sister,  Vipsania  Polla  ;  for  the  Septa,  a 
portico  used  for  electoral  meetings  under  shelter ;  the  villa 


96 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 


Publica,  the  portico  of  the  Argonauts,  and  the  portico  of 
Europa.  And  as  if  such  a  superabundance  of  luxury  were 
not  deemed  sufficient  for  the  comfort  and  well-being  of 


Remains  of  the  Portico  of  Octavia. 


the  Romans,  the  example  of  Augustus  and  his  courtiers 
found  imitators  down  to  the  very  fall  of  the  Empire,  as 
shown  by  the  porticoes  of  Constantine  and  of  the  Bonus 
IZventus,  and  by  the  porticus  maximce  of  Gratian,  Valen- 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  97 

t iniaii.  and  Theodosius.  Finally,  we  have  accounts  of  sim- 
ilar enormous  structures,  designed  but  not  built,  or  else 
begun  and  not  finished.  Severus  Alexander,  for  instance, 
began  a  portico  1,000  feet  long  and  100  feet  wide,  sup- 
ported by  one  thousand  marble  columns,  and  destined  to 
connect  the  Septa  with  his  baths.  Gordianus  the  younger 
also  began  a  portico  under  the  Pincian  hill,  900  yards  in 
circumference,  and  enclosing  a  garden  44,000  square  yards 
in  extent.  The  enterprise  was  stopped  by  his  premature 
death.  The  same  fate  befell  the  portico  of  Gallienus,  a 
prince  illustrious  for  the  extravagances  of  his  artistic  pro- 
jects. I  shall  mention  only  one  of  them.  He  had  designed 
raising  on  the  very  top  of  the  Esquiline  hill  a  most  un- 
heard-of colossal  statue,  219  feet  high,  —  that  is  to  say, 
twice  the  height  of  Trajan's  column,  —  which  would  have 
represented  him  as  the  sun,  holding  a  rod  in  his  hands. 
A  spiral  staircase,  to  be  ingeniously  made  in  the  rod,  was  to 
allow  visitors  to  reach  the  very  top  of  the  colossus.  The 
same  prince  began  a  portico  9,000  feet  long,  which  would 
have  led  from  the  centre  of  Rome  to  the  Ponte  Molle  (the 
Milvian  Bridge).  We  do  not  know  whether  the  idea  was 
carried  out  to  its  full  extent. 

I  doubt  whether  students  of  Roman  topography  have 
paid  due  attention  to  the  special  nature  of  these  structures, 
which  covered  with  a  network  of  colonnades  the  whole 
space  between  the  hills  and  the  river.  Porticoes  have  been 
studied  individually,  and,  under  this  aspect,  they  appear  to 
us  sometimes  as  simple  enclosures  of  temples,  sometimes  as 
picture-galleries  and  museums  of  statuary,  sometimes  as 
places  of  rendezvous  for  elegant,  lazy  youths  and  their 
sweethearts.  Their  importance,  however,  increases  ten- 
fold if  we  consider  them,  not  individually,  but  combined, 
as  successive  manifestations  of  the  same  original  concep- 


98  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

tion  or  plan,  that  is,  as  an  institution  contrived  and  de- 
veloped for  the  benefit  of  the  public.  In  Rome,  certainly, 
the  need  of  open,  pleasant  places  of  rest  and  amusement 
was  not  felt.  I  have  already  spoken  of  forums  and  baths ; 
I  shah"  speak  presently  of  that  superb  crown  of  parks  and 
gardens  which  surrounded  and  adorned  the  city  ;  but 
these  public  gardens  and  parks  and  squares  were  natu- 
rally exposed  to  the  rigor  and  inconstancy  of  the  seasons, 
to  the  sharp  tramontana  or  north  wind,  to  the  fierce  rays 
of  the  sun  in  the  dog-days.  To  obviate  such  inconven- 
iences, to  allow  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis  to  take 
their  "  constitutional "  walk  in  every  season  of  the  year,  at 
every  hour  of  the  day,  protected  from  the  rain,  the  sun, 
and  the  cold,  these  porticoes  were  planned ;  or,  to  express 
my  thought  better,  the  idea  was  conceived  of  dedicating 
to  this  purpose  a  certain  kind  of  edifice,  which  up  to 
that  time  had  had  an  entirely  different  purpose.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  this  happened  when  the  contagion  of 
Eastern  luxury  had  begun  to  contaminate  the  purity  of  the 
true  old  Roman  education.  People  have  thought  that  the 
porticus  Vipsania  must  have  been  built  to  exhibit  in  pub- 
lic the  geographical  maps  of  the  provinces  of  the  Empire, 
surveyed  and  drawn  in  the  famous  census  mentioned  in 
the  Gospel  of  S.  Luke  ;  and  that  the  portico  of  the  Argo- 
nauts was  built  to  exhibit,  likewise,  the  famous  picture  rep- 
resenting the  history  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  This  was  not 
the  design  of  those  buildings,  nor  the  idea  the  ancients  had 
of  them.  Whenever  classical  writers,  and  especially  Mar- 
tial, speak  of  the  porticoes,  they  constantly  allude  to  one 
idea,  —  to  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  there  the  warmth  of 
the  sun,  when  throughout  the  city  people  were  shiver- 
ing from  the  piercing  tramontana.  The  place  spoken  of 
most  frequently  by  Martial  is  the  portico  of  Europa,  the 


PUBLIC  PLACES    OF  RESORT.  99 

frequenters  of  which  were  protected  not  only  by  the  colon- 
nades, but  also  by  high  walls  of  boxwood,  which  intersected 
in  graceful  designs  the  inner  space.  By  looking  at  a  plan 
of  ancient  Rome,  however  defective  and  antiquated  it  may  be, 
one  sees  very  easily  how  it  was  possible  to  cross  under  shelter 
the  whole  plain  of  the  Campus  Martius,  from  end  to  end. 
The  walk,  taken  either  in  a  direct  line  from  the  Forum 
Boarium  to  Hadrian's  Mausoleum,  or  by  a  longer  circuit 
through  the  forum  of  Trajan  and  Agrippa's  buildings, 
would  cover  a  space  of  from  two  to  three  miles ;  and  the 
sights  which  would  have  struck  the  eye  of  the  foreign  vis- 
itor at  every  step  were  enough  to  excite  an  imagination  the 
least  susceptible  of  enthusiasm.  I  have  been  tempted  to 
calculate  some  statistical  data  concerning  this  incomparable 
group.  The  extent  of  the  twelve  larger  porticoes  of  the 
Campus  Martins  amounts  to  4,600  yards  ;  the  surface  pro- 
tected from  the  sun  and  rain  to  28,000  square  yards  ;  the 
total  area  of  the  porticoes,  central  gardens  included,  to 
100,000  square  yards  ;  the  number  of  columns  to  2,000, 
or  thereabouts.  These  columns  were  cut  out  of  the  rarest 
kinds  of  breccias  and  marbles ;  their  capitals  were  some- 
times of  Corinthian  gilt  brass  ;  their  pavements  were  inlaid 
with  jasper  and  porphyry.  Every  portico  contained,  as  I 
said  before,  a  museum  of  sculpture  and  a  gallery  of  pic- 
tures ;  and  the  space  enclosed  by  them  was  decorated  with 
lovely  gardens,  and  with  thickets  of  box,  myrtle,  laurel,  and 
plane-trees,  bordering  lakes,  fountains,  and  waterfalls.  Be- 
sides, every  one  of  them  offered  to  the  stranger  some  special 
attraction.  In  that  of  Vipsania  Polla,  the  maps  of  the 
provinces  of  the  Empire  were  displayed.  The  portico  of 
the  Septa  was  transformed  into  a  huge  magazine  of  curi- 
osities, antiquities,  and  manufactures  of  the  extreme  East, 
China  included.  Here,  also,  some  wonderful  specimens  of 


100  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT 

natural  history  were  exhibited,  such  as  a  colossal  beam  left 
over  from  the  building  of  the  roof  of  the  Diribitorium 
(the  widest  roof  in  Rome).  Lastly,  in  the  portico  built  by 
Marcius  Philippus,  ladies  could  find  the  latest  and  most  re- 
markable specimens  of  wigs  and  hair-dressing  which  the 
fancy  of  Roman  coiffeurs  could  contrive. 

Having  arrived  at  this  point,  I  must  speak  finally  of  the 
principal  subject  which  I  wished  to  illustrate,  namely,  the 
parks  and  gardens.  The  city  was  not  only  surrounded  and 
enclosed  by  them,  but  intersected  in  every  direction.  It  is 
necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  Rome  occupies  the  thalweg 
of  the  Tiber,  a  plain  less  than  a  mile  wide,  and  about  three 
miles  long,  flanked  east  and  west  by  the  paraUel  ranges  of 
hills,  the  highest  of  which,  now  called  Monte  Mario,  rises  to 
a  height  of  about  450  feet.  Both  ranges  were  covered  with 
gardens.  Let  us  begin  with  the  east  range,  overlooking  the 
plain  of  the  Campus  Martius.  The  Pincian  hill,  the  prom- 
enade of  modern  Rome,  was  occupied  by  the  magnificent 
gardens  of  Acilius  Glabrio,  the  existence  of  which  was  first 
made  known  in  1867  by  the  accidental  discovery  of  an  altar, 
dedicated  to  Sylvanus  by  the  overseer  or  superintendent  of 
Glabrio's  gardens.  Where  the  villa  Medici,  the  seat  of  the 
French  school  of  fine  arts,  now  stands,  were  the  gardens  of 
the  Anician  family,  as  was  ascertained  in  1789  by  the  dis- 
covery of  a  pedestal  and  a  statue  dedicated  to  the  owner 
of  the  place,  Anicius  Acilius  Aginatius.  The  southwest 
slope  of  the  same  Pincian  hill,  now  crossed  by  the  Via  S. 
Giuseppe  a  Capo  le  Case,  was  occupied  by  the  gardens  of 
Lucullus. 

The  valley  between  the  Pincian  and  the  Quirinal,  from 
the  modern  Piazza  Barberini  to  the  Porta  Salaria  and  the 
Porta  Pia,  a  charming  and  undulating  district,  with  glens 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  101 

and  overhanging  rocks,  rivulets  of  pure  water,  and  other 
natural  attractions,  was  the  seat  of  the  gardens  of  Sallust, 
the  finest  and  most  celebrated  of  ancient  Rome.  Proceed- 


Ruins  in  the  Garden  of  Sallust. 

ing  farther  south,  we  should  cross  the  gardens  of  Lollia 
Paulina,  of  Maecenas,  of  ^Elius  Lumia,  of  Torquatus,  of 
Epaphroditus,  of  Gallienus,  of  Pallans,  of  Helagabalus,  of 
Statilius  Taurus,  and  many  smaller  gardens,  all  forming  one 
stretch  of  verdure,  more  than  two  miles  long  and  over  half 
a  mile  wide.  And  here  I  must  answer  a  question  which  has 
often  been  asked  of  me,  namely,  How  is  it  possible  that  there 
was  room  for  so  many  and  such  large  pleasure-grounds  in  a 
district  which  we  know  for  a  certainty  to  have  been  occu- 
pied, from  a  very  remote  age,  by  public  cemeteries  ?  The 
careful  and  almost  daily  examination  I  have  made  of  the 
ground,  especially  in  the  new  quarters  of  the  Viminal  and 
of  the  Esquiline,  enables  me  to  solve  the  problem  easily. 
The  popular  cemeteries  having  become  offensive  to  public 
health,  and  real  hot-beds  of  disease  and  contagion,  Maece- 
nas, the  great  statesman,  decided  to  make  a  bold  stroke, 
and  to  destroy  the  evil  from  the  very  roots.  As  I  have 


102  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

already  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  he  obtained  from 
his  sovereign  and  friend  a  grant  of  that  portion  of  the  Es- 
quiline  necropolis  in  which  human  bodies  and  carcasses, 
slaves  and  beasts,  were  thrown  in  horrible  disorder,  together 
with  the  daily  refuse  of  the  town  ;  then  buried  the  whole 
space  under  an  enormous  mass  of  pure  earth,  thirty  feet 
deep,  and  turned  that  pestilential  den  into  smiling  gardens. 
The  same  thing  was  done,  in  process  of  time,  for  the  rest 
of  the  Esquiline  cemeteries,  even  in  that  portion  which  was 
occupied  by  private  family  tombs.  The  way  in  which  I  dis- 
covered this  fact  is  curious,  and  worth  relating.  When  the 
plans  for  the  new  quarters  were  about  to  be  carried  into 
execution,  our  Archaeological  Commission  obtained  from 
the  municipality  the  permission  to  explore  the  ground  be- 
forehand, so  that,  as  far  as  possible,  nothing  should  be  left 
under  the  new  buildings.  In  carrying  on  this  work  of 
exploration,  we  left  aside,  of  course,  those  places  which 
we  knew  positively  to  have  been  searched  before.  Such, 
for  instance,  was  the  space  between  the  so-called  temple 
of  Minerva  Medica  and  the  Porta  Maggiore,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  accounts  left  by  Ficoroni  and  Piranesi,  had 
been  thoroughly  gone  over  in  the  second  half  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. Events  have  proved  that  our  policy  may  have  found 
an  excuse  in  the  necessity  of  the  moment,  but  was  not  a  wise 
one.  The  first  explorers  of  that  rich  archaeological  ground, 
after  crossing  the  stratum  corresponding  to  the  level  of  the 
imperial  gardens,  had  stopped  their  work  at  the  level  of  the 
drains,  feeling  sure  that  a  deeper  search  would  be  abso- 
lutely fruitless.  They  labored  under  a  false  idea.  A  deeper 
search  would  have  brought  them,  as  it  has  brought  us,  to 
the  stratum  occupied  by  the  republican  cemetery,  buried  in 
the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  not  only  for  sanitary 
purposes,  but  to  provide  room  for  such  an  extension  of  pub- 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 


103 


lie  parks  as  was  required  by  the  increase  of  the  population  ; 
and  as,  in  the  period  in  which  the  change  took  place,  the 
religion  of  tombs  was  still  deeply  rooted  even  among  the 
commonest  workmen,  we  found  those  tombs  absolutely  in- 
tact, and  full  of  rich  funeral  deposits.  I  will  give  only  one 
instance.  In  excavating  a  space  fifty  feet  long  and  thirty 
feet  wide,  within  the  gardens  of  Licinius  Gallienus,  we  dis- 
covered between  February  7  and  May  27, 1871,  five  colum- 
baria, containing  204  inscriptions,  200  lamps,  2  marble  and 
40  terra-cotta  cinerary  urns,  195  coins,  150  glass  perfume- 
bottles,  200  flaqons  of  terra-cotta,  and  a  few  gold  finger 
and  ear  rings. 

The  hills  on  the  west  side  of  the  valley  were  also  occu- 
pied by  an  uninterrupted  chain  of  gardens,  from  those  of 
the  Minician  family,  on  the  Monte  Mario,  to  those  of  Julius 
Caesar,  on  the  southern  ridge  of  the  Janiculum ;  and  the 


Ruins  in  the  Garden  of  Sallust. 


banks  of  the  river  also  had  been  transformed  into  a  garden 
by  Augustus,  Pompey  the  Great,  Domitia,  Nero,  Caligula, 
and  others. 


104  PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT. 

As  I  am  prevented  by  want  of  space  from  entering  into 
details,  I  shall  mention  only  the  latest  discovery  made  in 
this  department,  —  the  discovery  of  an  altogether  unknown 
park.  In  building  the  foundation  of  Prince  Massimo's  pal- 
ace, near  the  southwest  corner  of  the  central  railway  sta- 
tion, a  line  of  terminal  stones  was  brought  to  light,  in- 
scribed with  the  following  legend  :  "  These  stones  mark  the 
boundary  lines  of  the  gardens  of  Lollia  (horti  Lolliani}, 
which  gardens  are  now  the  property  of  the  Emperor  Clau- 
dius." Many  works  of  art  and  ornamental  marbles  were 
discovered  there  at  the  same  time,  which  enable  us  to  form 
an  idea  of  the  former  beauty  of  the  place.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  lady  mentioned  on  the  stones  as  the  original 
owner  of  the  grounds  was  Lollia  Paulina,  equally  famous 
for  her  beauty,  her  wealth,  and  her  misfortunes.  She 
was  the  granddaughter  of  M.  Lollius,  the  teacher  and 
tutor  of  Caligula,  who,  having  been  reproached  by  his  im- 
perial pupil  for  the  extortions  he  had  committed  on  the 
populations  of  Asia  Minor,  had  poisoned  himself  from 
shame  and  grief.  The  untold  wealth  of  which  Lollius 
had  robbed  that  province  was  inherited  by  Lollia  Paulina, 
of  whom  Pliny  the  elder  speaks  in  the  following  terms : 
"  I  have  seen  the  lady  at  evening  parties,  with  her  hair 
dressed  in  emeralds  and  pearls ;  in  fact,  she  wore  emeralds 
and  pearls  as  ear-rings,  necklaces,  breast-plate,  bracelets,  and 
also  as  simple  trimming  of  her  robe,  to  such  excess  that 
the  value  of  the  whole  set  was  estimated  at  40,000,000  ses- 
terces [$1,600,000]."  In  the  year  of  Rome  790,  Caligula 
fell  in  love  with  the  lady,  and  made  an  empress  of  her,  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  her  legal  husband,  Memmius  Reg- 
ulus.  However,  he  soon  grew  tired  of  the  alliance,  and 
Paulina  was  banished  from  the  imperial  house,  with  the  in- 
junction that  she  should  live  henceforth  with  no  man,  not 


PUBLIC  PLACES   OF  RESORT.  105 

even  with  her  former  husband.  Eleven  years  later,  the  Ein- 
peror  Claudius,  being  in  search  of  a  wife,  after  the  death  of 
Messalina,  hesitated  for  a  while  between  the  two  "  profes- 
sional beauties  "  of  the  age,  Lollia  Paulina  and  Agrippina. 
Court  intrigues  made  the  balance  turn,  at  the  end,  in  favor 
of  Agrippina,  and  the  first  act  of  the  new  empress  was  to 
obtain  the  banishment  of  the  abhorred  rival  and  the  seizure 
of  her  personal  property.  Among  the  estates  thus  confis- 
cated and  incorporated  in  the  imperial  domain  were  evi- 
dently the  gardens  on  the  Esquiline,  the  existence  of  which 
has  now  been  accidentally  revealed  to  us  for  the  first  time. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    PALACE    OF    THE    C^SARS. 

THE  Palatine  hill  became  the  residence  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  and  the  centre  of  the  Roman  Empire,  not  on  ac- 
count of  its  historical  and  traditional  associations  with  the 
foundation  and  first  growth  of  the  city,  nor  because  of 
its  central  and  commanding  position,  but  by  a  mere  acci- 
dent. At  daybreak  on  September  21st  of  the  year  63 
B.  c.,  Augustus  was  born  in  this  region,  in  a  modest 
house,  opening  on  the  lane  called  ad  Capita  bubula,  which 
led  from  the  valley,  where  now  the  Colosseum  stands,  up  the 
slopes  of  the  hill  towards  the  modern  church  and  convent 
of  S.  Bonaventura.  This  man,  sent  by  God  to  change  the 
condition  of  mankind  and  the  state  of  the  world,  this 
founder  of  an  empire  which  is  still  practically  in  existence, 
never  deserted  the  Palatine  hill  all  through  his  eventful 
career.  From  the  lane  ad  Capita  bubtda  he  moved  to  the 
house  of  Calvus,  the  orator,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
hill  overlooking  the  forum ;  and  in  process  of  time,  having 
become  absolute  master  of  the  Roman  Commonwealth,  he 
settled  finally  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  having  purchased 
for  his  residence  the  house  of  Hortensius,  a  simple  and 
modest  house,  indeed,  with  columns  of  the  commonest  kind 
of  stone,  pavements  of  rubble-work,  and  simply  whitewashed 
walls. 

Whether  this  selection  of  a  site  was  made  because  the 
Palatine  had  long  before  become  the  Faubourg  St.  Honore, 
the  Belgravia  of  ancient  Rome,  is  difficult  to  determine. 


INDEX  TO  THE   PLAN    OF   THE   PALACE   OK   THE 
CAESARS. 

1.  Entrance  to  the  excavations  and  ruins,  from  the  Via  di  S.  Teodoro. 

2.  Lower  portion  of  the  Clivus  Victoria,  leading  from  the  Velabrum 

up  to  the  Porta  Roniana,  or  Romanula. 

3.  Site  of  the  Porto-  Romano.,  restored  under  Septimius  Severus. 

4.  4.   Upper  section  of  the  Clivus  Victoria,  leading  from  the  Porta 

Romano,  to  the  temple  of  Victory.  This  temple  was  discovered 
and  destroyed  by  Duke  Francis  of  Parma  and  Monsignore  Bi- 
anchini,  in  1726. 

5.  Entrance  to  a  reservoir  for  rain  and  spring  water,  believed  to  be 

contemporary  with  the  foundation  of  Rome. 

6.  Remains  of  the  earliest  fortifications  of  the  Alban  settlement  on 

the  Palatine,  commonly  called  the  walls  of  Romulus. 

7.  Altar  dedicated  to  an  unknown  god  (SEI  DEO  SEI  DEIVAE)  by 

Caius  Sextius  Calvinus. 

8.  Other  remains  of  the  earliest  fortifications  of  the  Palatine. 

9.  Ruins  of  the  domus  Gelotiana,  incorporated  by  Caligula  into  the 

imperial  palace. 
10.  Room  in  which  the  caricature  of  the  Crucifix  was  found.  See 

plate,  page  122. 
xi.  Stadium  for  gymnastic  and  athletic  sports,  built  by  Domitian, 

restored  by  Septimius  Severus,  and  transformed  into  a  kind  of 

amphitheatre  by  King  Theodoric. 

12.  Imperial  tribune. 

13.  Bathing-apartments  connected  with  the  Stadium. 

•  14.  A  wing  of  the  palace  built  by  Septimius  Severus.  Its  facade  on 
the  Via  Triumphalis  was  called  the  Septizonium.  See  plate, 
page  126. 

15.  The  Pulvinar,  or  balcony  from  which  the  emperors  could  witness 

the  races  of  the  Circus  Maximus. 

16.  Remains  of  the  domus  A  ugustana,  discovered  in  1792  by  Ran- 

coureuil. 

17.  Halls  built  on  an  artificial  platform  over  the  deepest  portion  of 

the  gorge  which  separated  the  northern  from  the  southern  sum- 
mit of  the  hill,  namely,  the  Germalus  from  the  Velia. 
18-25.    Ruins  of  the  palace  built  by  Domitian  for  state  receptions  and 
banquets. 

(18.)   Triclinium,  or  banqueting-hall. 

(19.)  Bathing-apartments. 

(20.)  Peristylium,  or  colonnade  surrounding  the  great  Court. 

(21.)   Offices. 

(22.)   Basilica. 

(23.)   State  reception  hall,  or  Tablimtm. 

(24.)  Lararium,  or  private  chapel. 

(25.)  Atrium. 

26.  Remains  of  the  earliest  fortifications  of  the  Palatine. 

27.  Street  called  Vicus  Apollinis,  leading  from  the  Sacra  Via  to  the 

temple  and  libraries  of  Apollo. 

28.  Probable  site  of  the  Porta  Mugonia,  one  of  the  three  gates  of  the 

Palatine  settlement. 

29.  Foundations  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator. 

30.  Cellars  and  storerooms. 

31.  Crypto-porticus,  or  subterranean  passage  in  which  the  murder  of 

Caligula  took  place. 

32.  Subterranean  passage,  leading  from  the  palaces  of  Tiberius  and 

Caligula  to  the  palace  of  Domitian.  It  passed  under  a  public 
square,  called  A  rea  Palatina. 

33.  Basin  or  tank,  supposed  to  be  a  vivarium  for  fish. 

34.  House  of  Germanicus,  famous  for  its  paintings  and  for  its  excel- 

lent preservation.     See  plate,  page  109. 

35.  Puteal,  or  mouth  of  a  well  or  cistern  for  rain-water.     It  dates 

from  the  first  or  second  century  of  Rome. 

36.  Remains  of  a  building  not  yet  identified. 

37.  Temple  of  Jupiter  Propugnator,  or  Victor. 

38.  A  group  of  ruins,  dating  from  the  kingly  period ;  bordering  on  a 

steep  ascent,  which  leads  from  the  vallis  mureia,  up  the  Pala- 
tine, and  which  was  called  scales  Cad. 

39.  Temples  of  Cybele,  called  cedes  magnet  Deum  Matris. 

40.  40.   Southwest  front  of  the  domus  Tioeriana,  or  palace  of  Tiberius. 

41.  42,  43.    Substructions  of  the  palace  of  Caligula. 

44.  Baths,  opening  on  the  Sacra  Via,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by 
Helagabalus. 


FORUM  JROMANUM 


5.M.  Liheratnce  . 


PLAN   OF  THE   PAL. 


SACRA 


V/IA 


ARCUS    CONSTANTINI 


Viqna  Barberln! 

DOMUS  NERONIANP 


OF  THE   C^ISARS. 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C&SARS.  107 

We  know  that  the  house  of  Hortensius,  chosen  by  Augus- 
tus, was  surrounded  by  those  of  Clodius,  Scaurus,  Crassus, 
Caecina,  Sisenna,  Flaccus,  Catilina,  and  other  members  of 
the  aristocracy.  I  am  persuaded,  however,  that  the  secret 
of  the  selection  is  to  be  found  in  the  simplicity,  I  will  even 
say  in  the  poverty,  of  the  dwelling  j  in  fact,  such  extreme 
modesty  is  worthy  the  good  sense  and  the  spirit  of  moder- 
ation shown  by  Augustus  throughout  his  career.  He  could 
very  well  sacrifice  appearances  to  the  reality  of  an  un- 
bounded power.  It  is  just,  at  any  rate,  to  recognize  that 
even  in  his  remotest  resorts  for  temporary  rest  and  retire- 
ment from  the  cares  of  government  he  led  the  same  kind 
of  plain,  modest  life,  spending  all  his  leisure  hours  in  ar- 
ranging his  collections  of  natural  history,  more  especially 
the  palaeo-ethnological  or  prehistoric,  for  which  the  ossifer- 
ous  caverns  of  the  Island  of  Capri  supplied  him  with  abun- 
dant materials. 

It  was  only  after  the  victory  of  Actium  that,  finding 
himself  master  of  the  world,  he  thought  it  expedient  to 
give  up,  in  a  certain  measure,  his  former  habits,  and  live  in 
better  style.  Having  bought  through  his  agents  (per  pro- 
curatores]  some  of  the  aristocratic  palaces  adjoining  the 
old  house  of  Hortensius,  among  them  the  historical  palace 
of  Catilina,  he  built  a  new  and  very  handsome  residence, 
but  declared  at  the  same  time  that  he  considered  it  as  pub- 
lic property,  not  as  his  own.  The  solemn  dedication  of  the 
palace  took  place  on  January  14th,  of  the  year  26  before 
Christ.  Here  he  lived,  sleeping  always  in  the  same  small 
eubiculum,  for  twenty-eight  years ;  that  is  to  say,  until  the 
third  year  after  Christ,  when  the  palace  was  almost  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  disaster  spread 
throughout  the  Empire,  an  almost  incredible  amount  of 
money  was  subscribed  at  once,  by  all  orders  of  citizens,  to  pro- 


108  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

vide  him  with  a  new  residence  ;  and  although,  with  his  usual 
moderation,  he  would  consent  to  accept  only  one  denarius 
from  each  individual  subscriber,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  how 
many  millions  he  must  have  realized  in  spite  of  his  modesty. 
A  new,  magnificent  palace  rose  from  the  ruins  of  the  old 
one,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  plan  and  arrange- 
ment were  changed  ;  otherwise  Augustus  could  not  have 
continued  to  sleep  in  the  same  room  during  the  last  ten 
years  of  his  life,  as  we  are  told  positively  that  he  did. 

The  work  of  Augustus  was  continued  by  his  successor 
and  kinsman,  Tiberius,  who  built  a  new  wing  (domus 
Tiberiana)  near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  hill,  over- 
looking the  Velabrum.  Caligula  filled  with  new  structures 
the  whole  space  between  the  domus  Tiberiana  and  the 
Roman  forum.  Nero,  likewise,  occupied  with  a  new  pal- 
ace the  southeast  corner  of  the  hill,  overlooking  the  valley, 
where  the  Coliseum  was  afterwards  built.  Domitian  rebuilt 
the  domus  Augustana}  injured  by  fire,  adding  to  its  ac- 
commodations a  stadium  for  gymnastic  sports.  The  same 
emperor  raised  an  altogether  new  palace  in  the  space  be- 
tween the  house  of  Augustus,  on  one  side,  and  those  of 
Caligula  and  Tiberius  on  the  other.  Septimius  Severus  and 
his  son  restored  the  whole  group  of  imperial  buildings,  add- 
ing a  new  wing  at  the  southwest  corner,  known  under  the 
name  of  Septizoniiim.  The  latest  additions,  of  no  special 
importance,  took  place  under  Julia  Manila  (dicetce  Mam- 
meiance)  and  Helagabalus  (baths  on  the  Sacred  Way). 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  a  minute  description  of 
this  immense  and  complicated  mass  of  structures ;  to  render 
such  a  description  intelligible  I  ought  to  make  use  of  an 
indefinite  number  of  plans,  diagrams,  sections,  and  photo- 
graphs, and  even  then  I  am  not  sure  that  I  could  reach 
the  necessary  degree  of  clearness.  One  must  be  on  the 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C&SARS. 


109 


spot ;  one  must  examine  de  visu  those  endless  suites  of 
apartments,  halls,  terraces,  porticoes,  crypts,  cellars,  to  ap- 
preciate the  difficulty  of  the  problem.  Every  emperor,  to 
a  certain  extent,  enlarged,  altered,  destroyed,  and  recon- 


Remains  of  the  House  of  Germanicus. 

structed  the  work  of  his  predecessors ;  cutting  new  open- 
ings, walling  up  old  ones,  subdividing  large  rooms  into 
smaller  apartments,  and  changing  their  destination. 

Coming  now  to  some  particulars  concerning  a  few  of  the 
leading  portions  of  this  immense  group  of  buildings,  I  must 
remark  that  one  section  alone  of  the  imperial  Palatine 
buildings  remained  unaltered,  and  kept  the  former  simpli- 
city of  its  plan  down  to  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  —  the  sec- 
tion built  by  Augustus  across  the  centre  of  the  hill,  which 
comprised  the  main  entrance,  or  propylaia,  the  portico  sur- 
rounding the  temple  of  Apollo,  the  temple  itself,  the  Greek 
and  Latin  libraries,  the  shrine  of  Vesta,  and  the  imperial 


110  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

residence.  A  brief  description  of  this  group,  so  simple  and 
yet  so  magnificent,  will  be  easily  understood,  and  will  con- 
vey to  the  mind  of  the  reader  the  true  idea  of  the  aspect 
which  the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  taken  as  a  whole,  presented 
in  the  golden  age  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  astonished 
eyes  of  a  foreign  visitor. 

The  state  entrance  was  approached  from  the  Sacra  Via 
by  a  wide  street,  named  vicus  Apollinis,  the  street  of 
Apollo,  from  the  sanctuary  to  which  it  led.  On  the  top  of 
the  central  arch  of  this  state  entrance  Augustus  had  placed 
one  of  Lysias's  masterpieces,  a  chariot  drawn  by  four  horses, 
driven  by  ApoUo  and  Diana,  the  whole  group  being  cut 
out  of  a  single  block  of  marble.  This  archway  seems  to 
have  been  rediscovered  about  1575.  Flaminius  Vacca,  a 
sculptor  and  an  antiquarian  of  the  time  of  Sixtus  V.,  who 
has  left  a  diary  or  register  of  discoveries  which  took  place 
in  his  lifetime,  says :  "  I  remember  to  have  seen  in  the  pal- 
ace of  the  Caesars,  near  the  Farnese  grounds,  the  remains 
of  a  colossal  gate,  with  posts  of  Greek  marble  twenty-nine 
feet  high,  and  with  a  niche  of  African  marble  which  must 
have  been  formerly  on  the  top  of  it.'* 

Passing  across  the  threshold  of  the  propylaia,  the  visitor 
found  himself  at  once  before  the  most  marvellous  sight 
which  human  eyes  have  ever  witnessed.  There  is  certainly 
no  exaggeration  in  the  words  of  contemporary  writers,  when 
they  give  to  this  group  the  epithet  of  golden,  of  perfect, 
and  of  the  chef  d'ceuvre  of  Augustan  magnificence. 

The  peristyle,  surrounding  the  sacred  area  paved  with 
white  marble,  contained  fifty-two  fluted  columns  of  giallo 
antico,  many  of  which,  more  or  less  broken,  were  dis- 
covered on  the  spot  by  Pope  Alexander  VII.,  by  Vespi- 
gnani  in  1869,  and  by  ourselves  in  1877.  As  regards  the 
number  of  the  shafts,  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  were 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS.  Ill 

at  least  fifty-two,  because  fifty  intercolumniations  were 
occupied  by  the  statues  of  the  Danaids,  and  one  by  the 
statue  of  their  prolific  father.  In  the  open  space,  in  front 
of  the  figures  of  the  Danaids,  stood  equestrian  statues  of 
their  miserable  husbands,  the  sons  of  Egypt.  Many  torsos 
and  fragments  belonging  to  this  army  of  statues,  the  work 
of  the  best  Greek  chisels  of  Augustus's  age,  were  re- 
covered on  the  spot,  just  three  centuries  ago.  The  account 
of  their  discovery  is  given  by  the  same  Flaminius  Vacca 
whom  I  mentioned  above  :  "  I  remember  to  have  witnessed 
the  discovery  of  eighteen  or  twenty  torsos,  or  statues,  repre- 
senting Amazons,  a  trifle  larger  than  life-size.  They  were 
lying  under  the  Ronconi  garden,  in  the  centre  of  the  palace 
of  the  Ca3sars.  I  recollect,  also,  that  in  mending  the  wine- 
press, the  said  Ronconi  discovered  a  beautiful  marble  statue 
imbedded  in  the  wall.  It  represents  Hercules,  and  bears  on 
the  plinth  the  signature  ATBimOT  EPFON,  the  work  of 
Lysippus.  Duke  Cosimo  de'  Medici  bought  the  figure  from 
Ronconi  for  800  scudi,  and  removed  it  to  Florence,  where  it 
is  still  to  be  seen."  It  is  evident  that  Flaminius  Vacca,  a 
faithful  but  simple  and  unlearned  diarist,  mistakes  Dan- 
aids for  Amazons.  As  to  the  fate  of  the  twenty  statues, 
I  am  afraid  they  must  have  come  to  their  end  in  a  limekiln 
or  in  a  foundation  wall. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  portico,  behind  the  temple  of 
Apollo,  was  the  library  of  the  same  name,  in  two  sections, 
the  Greek  and  the  Latin,  with  a  reading-hall  between  them 
large  enough  to  accommodate  the  whole  Senate  on  state  oc- 
casions, and  to  hold  a  colossus  fifty  feet  high.  This  library 
did  not  contain  books  upon  every  branch  of  human  learn- 
ing. It  is  certain  that  historical  works  were  not  included  in 
the  catalogue.  Vopiscus,  the  imperial  biographer,  declares 
that  he  collected  the  materials  for  the  life  of  Probus  from 


112  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

books  preserved  in  the  library  of  the  palace  of  Tiberius  and 
in  that  of  Trajan's  forum.  This  means,  we  believe,  that  no 
such  documents  were  to  be  found  in  the  library  of  Apollo. 
Its  formal  destination  has  been  made  known  to  us  by  an 
anonymous  scholiast  of  Juvenal,  who,  commenting  on  the 
128th  verse  of  the  first  satire,  says :  bibliothecam  iuris  ci- 
vilis  et  liberalium  studiorum  in  templo  Apollinis  palatini 
dedicavit  Augustus.  "  The  Augustan  library  by  the  tem- 
ple of  Apollo  is  devoted  to  books  on  civil  law  and  on  the 
liberal  arts."  The  Romans,  after  all,  knew  perfectly  well 
how  much  more  advantageous  to  science  is  the  institution 
of  special  libraries  for  one  single  branch  of  human  learn- 
ing than  the  institution  of  miscellaneous,  universal,  encyclo- 
paedic arsenals  of  books,  which  can  scarcely  keep  up  with 
the  times,  and  reach  the  necessary  degree  of  completeness 
in  every  department.  Another  peculiarity  of  literary  Ro- 
man establishments  and  reading-rooms  was  the  absolute 
exclusion  of  trash  ;  the  honor  of  appearing  on  the  scri- 
nia,  or  shelves,  was  reserved  to  standard  works  only,  even 
when  the  productions  of  contemporary  writers. 

The  Greek  and  the  Latin  sections  of  the  library  of 
Apollo  were  placed  under  the  supervision  of  a  carefully 
selected  staff  of  officials,  under  the  high  directorship  of  a 
procurator  bibliothecarum  Augusti,  superintendent  of 
imperial  libraries. 

The  principal  ornament  of  the  hall  was  a  colossal  bronze 
statue,  fifty  feet  high,  representing  Augustus  with  the  attri- 
butes of  ApoUo.  It  was  the  work  of  an  Italian  artist,  and 
was  cast  successfully  in  Rome,  in  spite  of  its  enormous  size. 
Nardini  attributes  to  this  colossus  the  bronze  head,  six  feet 
high,  which  is  preserved  in  the  Palazzo  dei  Conservatori  on 
the  Capitol,  because  its  size  is  exactly  proportionate  to 
that  assigned  by  Pliny  to  the  whole  figure,  —  whereas  it 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS.  113 

would  be  too  small  for  the  colossus  of  Nero,  the  height  of 
which  was  exactly  double  that  of  the  Palatine  statue.  The 
walls  of  the  reading-room  were  covered  with  medallions  of 
the  most  celebrated  authors  and  orators,  some  in  repousse 
work  of  gold  and  silver,  some  cast  in  bronze.  Tacitus  re- 
lates how  the  son  of  M.  Hortalus,  having  been  called  to 
defend  himself  before  the  Senate  assembled  in  this  reading- 
hall,  would  sometimes  turn  towards  the  medallion  of  Hor- 
tensius  the  orator,  sometimes  towards  the  image  of  Augus- 
tus. The  medallions  were  disposed  in  groups  of  poets, 
historians,  lawyers,  orators,  and  so  forth.  In  the  same 
library,  rare  specimens  of  paleography  were  exhibited. 
Pliny,  in  the  seventh  book  of  his  "  Natural  History,"  after 
declaring  how  closely  old  Greek  handwriting  resembled  the 
Latin,  adds :  "  I  can  bring  the  evidence  of  an  archaic 
bronze  inscription  from  Delphi,  which  Augustus  has  placed 
in  his  library  as  a  specimen  of  palaeography."  It  is  prob- 
able that  in  this  reading-room  were  held  the  sittings  of  the 
literary  academies  and  societies,  described  by  Pliny  the 
younger  in  his  letter  to  Sosius  Senecio  (I.  13),  which  were 
the  delight  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  the  abhorrence  and 
the  horror  of  literary  men,  who  were  obliged  by  their  con- 
nection with  the  imperial  court  to  lose  hours  upon  hours 
in  listening  to  silly  and  narcotic  lecturers.  Nothing  could 
be  more  graphic  than  the  description  by  Pliny  of  one 
of  these  compulsory  sittings.  "  We  approach  the  hall," 
he  says,  "  as  if  we  were  compelled  by  main  force  ;  many  of 
us  sit  outside  of  the  door,  and  try  to  overcome  the  ennui 
by  discussing  the  gossip  of  the  town.  Messengers  are  sur- 
reptitiously sent  in  to  inquire  whether  the  lecturer  has 
really  made  his  appearance,  whether  he  has  finished  his 
prologue,  or  how  many  sheets  are  still  left  to  be  read. 
Then,  when  we  hear  that  the  moment  of  deliverance  is 


114  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

not  very  far  off,  we  come  in  slowly,  sit  on  the  edge  of 
our  chairs,  and  do  not  even  wait  for  the  end  of  the  dis- 
course to  slip  or  steal  quietly  away." 

The  temple  of  Apollo,  which  stood  in  the  centre  of  the 
square  portico,  between  the  propylaia  and  the  libraries,  was 
built  entirely  of  Carrara  marble.  The  front  of  the  temple 
was  covered  with  bas-reliefs  in  Parian  marble,  the  work  of 
Bupalos  and  Anthermos  of  Chios,  the  favorite  artists  of 
Augustus.  On  the  top  of  the  pediment,  the  chariot  of 


Section  of  a  Frieze  from  the  Temple  of  Apollo. 

Apollo,  of  gilt  bronze,  shone  tinder  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
The  two  sides  of  the  door  were  incrusted  with  ivory  bas- 
reliefs,  representing  on  one  side  the  extermination  of 
Niobe's  family,  on  the  other  the  flight  of  the  Gauls  from 
Delphi.  Inside  of  the  temple,  the  attention  of  the  visitor 
was  particularly  attracted  by  the  group  of  Apollo  playing 
on  the  lyre,  between  his  mother  and  sister,  the  work  of 
three  famous  sculptors.  Scopas  had  made  the  Apollo  ; 
Cephisodotos,  son  of  Praxiteles,  Latona ;  and  Timotheos 
had  modelled  the  figure  of  Diana.  The  central  group  was 
surrounded  by  the  nine  Muses.  Other  works  of  art  are 
described  by  Pliny.  "  Great  predilection,"  he  says,  "  is 
shown  by  artists  and  amateurs  for  hanging  chandeliers,  or 
for  candelabras  cast  in  the  shape  of  trees,  which  bear  lamps 
instead  of  fruit.  The  finest  specimen  of  this  kind  of  work 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CJESARS.  115 

is  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Apollo 'on  the  Palatine,  a  work 
remarkable  also  for  its  historical  association,  having  been 
seized  by  Alexander  the  Great  in  the  storming  of  Thebes, 
and  afterwards  dedicated  in  the  Temple  of  Cyme."  There 
was  also  a  collection  of  gold  plate,  and  especially  of  tri- 
pods. Augustus  had  ordered  these  to  be  made  out  of  the 
money  raised  by  the  melting  of  all  the  silver  statues  which 
provincial  servility  had  set  up  in  his  honor  and  against  his 
will.  Finally,  we  have  the  record  of  a  collection  of  en- 
graved gems  and  cameos,  a  present  offered  to  the  god  by 
Marcellus,  son  of  Octavia  and  nephew  of  Augustus. 

Inside  of  the  pedestal  that  supported  the  statue  of  Apollo 
two  golden  chests  were  concealed,  in  which  Augustus  had 
deposited,  as  in  a  safe,  the  Sibylline  books.  The  last  ac- 
count I  have  been  able  to  find  of  these  Sibylline  books,  so 
intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  Rome  and  of  the 
world,  belongs  to  the  year  363  of  the  Christian  era.  In 
the  winter  of  that  year,  more  precisely  in  the  night  between 
the  18th  and  19th  of  March,  the  Temple  of  Apollo  caught 
fire,  and  was  destroyed  to  the  very  foundations.  The  only 
things  which  the  firemen,  led  by  Apronianus,  prefect  of 
police,  could  save  from  the  conflagration  were  the  Sibylline 
books.  Their  subsequent  fate  is  utterly  unknown.  Of  the 
shrine  of  Vesta,  which  occupied  the  space  between  the  li- 
braries and  the  palace  of  Augustus,  there  is  but  little  to 
say,  except  that  it  was  round  in  shape  and  built  in  imitation 
of  its  prototype  on  the  Sacred  Way. 

Summing  up  the  brief  description  I  have  given  of  the 
architectural  group  raised  by  Augustus  on  the  Palatine,  and 
which  formed,  as  it  were,  the  vestibule  to  his  own  imperial 
residence,  we  know  with  absolute  certainty  that  it  contained 
at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  columns  of  the  rarest  kinds 
of  marbles  and  breccias,  fifty-two  of  which  were  of  Numi- 


116  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

dian  marble,  with  capitals  of  gilt  bronze ;  a  group  by 
Lysias,  comprising  one  chariot,  four  horses,  and  two  driv- 
ers, all  cut  in  a  single  block  of  marble ;  the  Hercules  of 
Lysippus ;  the  Apollo  of  Scopas ;  the  Latona  of  Cephiso- 
dotos ;  the  Diana  of  Timotheos ;  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  ped- 
iment by  Bupalos  and  Anthermos ;  the  quadriga  of  the 
sun  in  gilt  bronze ;  exquisite  ivory  carvings ;  a  bronze 
colossus  fifty  feet  high  ;  hundreds  of  medallions  in  gold, 
silver,  and  bronze ;  gold  and  silver  plate ;  a  collection  of 
gems  and  cameos  ;  and,  lastly,  candelabras  which  had  been 
the  property  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  admiration  of 
the  East. 

Has  the  world  ever  seen  a  collection  of  greater  artistic 
and  material  value  exhibited  in  a  single  building  ?  And 
we  must  recollect  that  the  group  built  by  Augustus  com- 
prises only  a  very  modest  section  of  the  Palatine ;  that  to 
his  palace  we  must  join  the  palaces  of  Tiberius,  Caligula, 
Nero,  Vespasian,  Domitian,  Septimius  Severus,  Julia  Ma- 
maBa,  and  Helagabalus ;  that  each  one  of  these  imperial  resi- 
dences equalled  the  residence  of  Augustus,  if  not  in  pure 
taste,  certainly  in  wealth,  in  luxury,  in  magnificence,  in  the 
number  and  value  of  works  of  art  collected  and  stolen  from 
Greece  and  the  East,  from  Egypt  and  Persia.  By  multi- 
plying eight  or  ten  times  the  list  I  have  given  above,  the 
reader  will  get  an  approximate  idea  of  the  "  home  "  of  the 
Roman  emperors  in  its  full  pride  and  glory. 

I  have  deliberately  excluded  from  my  description  the  res- 
idence or  private  house  of  Augustus,  because  he  himself 
had  deliberately  excluded  from  it  any  trace  of  that  grandeur 
he  had  so  lavishly  bestowed  on  the  buildings  which  consti- 
tuted the  approach  to  it. 

As  regards  Caligula's  buildings,  which  extended  from 
Tiberius's  palace  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  hill,  over- 


SUBSTRUCTIONS  OF  THE  PALACE  OF  CALIGULA. 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C&SARS. 


117 


looking  the  forum,  the  best  preserved  portion  of  them  is 
a  long  cryptoporticus,  or  subterranean  passage,  represented 
in  the  illustration  below. 

On  January  24th,  A.  D.  41,  a  scene  of  horror  took  place 


.^«7SGSfc3&i 


Corridor  in  which  Caligula  was  murdered. 

in  this  dark  corridor,  —  the  murder  of  the  Emperor  Ca- 
ligula. Whoever  will  endeavor  to  picture  in  his  mind  all 
the  revolting  circumstances  of  that  death,  as  described  by 
Flavius  Josephus,  will  hear  echoing  again  in  the  long 
vaulted  crypt  the  last  cries  of  the  frantic  young  prince, 
fallen  on  his  knees,  and  trying  to  avert  with  his  feeble 
hands  the  last  implacable  blows  of  his  assassins. 


118  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

Caligula  had  spent  the  morning  of  that  eventful  day  in 
attending  to  the  ludi  palatini,  or  scenic  plays,  which  Livia 
had  instituted  permanently  in  honor  of  Augustus,  and 
which  were  usually  performed  on  a  wooden  stage,  built 
for  the  occasion,  in  front  of  the  palace  itself.  Having  left 
the  performance  towards  noon,  Caligula  walked  with  his 
attendants  towards  the  palace,  entering  by  the  main  gate- 
way. But  once  inside,  instead  of  proceeding  by  the  usual 
way,  that  is,  by  the  state  court-yard  and  staircase,  where 
the  body-guard  was  in  attendance,  and  whither  he  had 
been  preceded  by  Claudius,  he  suddenly  turned  to  the  right, 
and  entered,  as  the  historian  says,  a  solitary  and  obscure 
corridor,  which  led  to  the  bathing  apartments.  He  was 
tempted  to  pass  this  unusual  way  by  the  desire  of  meeting 
some  young  noblemen  from  Asia,  whom  he  had  invited  to 
the  imperial  court  to  be  trained  in  singing  hymns  and  in 
performing  the  sacred  pyrrhic  dance. 

Having  halted  a  few  minutes  to  speak  to  them,  and  to 
ascertain  the  state  of  their  training,  he  was  met  by  Cassius 
Cherea,  the  captain  on  duty  and  leader  of  the  conspiracy, 
who  asked  the  young  prince  the  password  for  the  day. 
Receiving  an  exceedingly  profane  answer,  Cassius  Cherea 
with  his  poniard  struck  the  first  blow.  Caligula  tried  to 
escape  towards  the  group  of  terrified  youths  from  Asia,  but 
Cornelius  Sabinus,  who  had  joined  the  conspiracy,  knocked 
him  down,  and  held  him  firm  until  the  deed  was  accom- 
plished. 

The  conspirators,  now  that  they  had  succeeded  in  their 
murderous  attempt,  fearing  for  their  own  safety,  tried  to 
escape  unobserved.  Not  daring,  however,  to  go  back  the 
same  way  they  had  entered  the  crypt,  for  the  dread  of 
the  sentinels  who  kept  watch  at  the  main  gateway,  they 
ran  through  the  other  end  of  the  corridor,  and  concealed 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C^SARS. 


119 


themselves  in  the  house  of  Germanicus,  which  had  been 
incorporated  in  Caligula's  palace.  A  strange  occurrence, 
indeed,  that  the  murderers  of  the  son  of  Germanicus  should 
seek  refuge  in  the  house  of  his  own  father  ! 

The  historical  corridor  just  described,  and  the  apartments 
which  adjoin  it  on  the  north  side,  are  not  the  only  additions 


The  Domus  Gelotiana. 

made  by  Caligula  to  the  imperial  palace.  He  appears  to 
have  purchased  and  embodied  in  the  crown  property  an- 
other large  house,  belonging  to  a  certain  Gelotius  and  hence 
called  domus  Gelotiana  ;  and  this  acquisition  was  made,  not 
for  any  want  of  additional  space  and  accommodation,  but 
to  satisfy  the  mania  of  the  prince  for  the  games  of  the 
circus,  for  horses  and  grooms.  Caligula  was  a  passionate 
supporter  of  the  squadron  of  the  greens,1  so  much  so  that 
he  used  to  spend  days  and  nights  in  their  stables,  sharing 
their  dinners  and  suppers,  and  indulging  with  them  in  all 

1  For  details  about  the  various  squadrons  orfactiones,  see  chapter  on  Police. 


120  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C^SARS. 

sorts  of  excesses.  This  house  of  Gelotius  was  bought  be- 
cause it  lay  nearer  to  the  circus  than  any  other  building 
on  the  Palatine,  and  because,  by  simply  crossing  it,  the 
prince  could  reach,  undisturbed  and  unseen,  his  favorite 
place  among  the  "  greens."  From  an  inscription  discovered 
in  Rome  in  the  seventeenth  century,  which  mentions  a  Sym- 
phorus  tesserarius,  or  ticket  collector,  de  domo  Gelotiana, 
we  gather  that  this  house  on  solemn  occasions  could  con- 
tain a  large  number  of  guests.  Its  importance  to  us,  how- 
ever, is  not  derived  from  its  connection  with  the  circus,  but 
from  the  considerable  number  of  graffiti,  or  scribblings, 
which  cover  its  walls. 

The  mania  for  writing  on  the  plaster  in  public  or  private 
buildings,  with  a  nail  or  a  sharp  point  of  any  kind,  was  per- 
haps stronger  in  ancient  times  than  it  is  now.  It  must  have 
been  tolerated  by  municipal  regulations.  In  that  portion  of 
Pompeii  which  has  been  unearthed  up  to  the  present  time, 
not  less  than  six  thousand  graffiti  have  been  copied  and 
published ;  and  we  have  gained  more  knowledge  of  the 
life  and  habits,  the  love  and  business  transactions,  and  the 
political  feelings,  of  the  Pompeians  from  this  source  than 
from  any  other  written  or  engraved  documents.  In  Rome, 
not  a  single  edifice  escaped  the  nail  and  the  pocket-knife  of 
idlers  or  schoolboys.  Wherever  there  was  a  flat  surface  of 
marble  or  plaster,  no  matter  whether  horizontal  or  vertical, 
there  you  are  sure  to  find  some  more  or  less  interesting  rec- 
ord :  checked  gambling-tables,  caricatures,  alphabets,  pro- 
fane words,  sentences,  emblems,  and  the  like.  The  dread 
which  neat  people  felt  for  scratchers  on  walls  was  such 
that  we  have  actually  found  a  marble  inscription  outside 
the  Porta  Portuensis,  which  had  been  put  up  by  a  gen- 
tleman, in  front  of  his  property,  and  in  which  he  begs 
passers-by  not  to  scariphare  or  scratch  the  walls  of  his 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CJESARS.  121 

buildings.  When  graffiti  are  found  in  large  numbers  in 
one  and  the  same  place,  they  gain  the  importance  of  an 
historical  document.  Such  are,  for  instance,  those  discov- 
ered in  the  barracks  of  the  seventh  battalion  of  police,1 
which  have  revealed  to  us  the  most  minute  details  regard- 
ing the  organization  and  duties  of  that  body  ;  and  such 
are,  also,  the  graffiti,  discovered  in  the  year  1857,  in  the 
domus  Gelotiana,  which  introduce  us  into  the  intimacy 
of  the  life  of  court  servants  of  a  higher  class.  It  ap- 
pears from  them,  and  from  the  records  they  contain,  that 
after  the  murder  of  Caligula  the  house  became  a  resi- 
dence and  a  training-school  for  court  pages,  who  had  re- 
ceived their  first  education  in  the  imperial  elementary 
school,  called  pcedagogium  ad  caput  Africce,  from  the 
name  of  a  street  which  led  from  the  Coliseum  to  the  aris- 
tocratic quarter  of  the  Crelian.  The  boys  must  have  been 
delighted  at  their  deliverance  from  the  rod  of  the  master, 
and  their  admittance  into  the  palace ;  and  accordingly 
they  chronicle  the  happy  event  on  the  walls  of  their  new 
residence  with  inscriptions  modelled  on  the  same  pattern : 
Corinthus  exit  de  pcedagogio  ;  Marianus  afer  exit  de  pce- 
dagogio, and  so  forth.  There  is  another  very  spirited  and 
bright  allusion  to  the  hardships  of  school  life,  composed 
of  a  vignette  and  its  explanation.  The  drawing  repre- 
sents a  donkey  turning  the  mill ;  and  the  legend  says, 

LABORA     ASELLE     QVOMODO     EGO    LABORAVI    ET     PRODERIT 

TIBI  :  "  Work,  work,  little  donkey,  as  I  have  worked  my- 
self, and  thou  shalt  be  rewarded  for  it."  But  by  far  the 
most  interesting  and  most  widely  celebrated  graffito  of  the 
whole  set  is  the  one  discovered  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1857  in  the  fourth  room  on  the  left  of  the  entrance,  re- 

1  These  barracks  were  discovered  twenty  years   ago,  near  the  church  of  S. 
Crisogono,  in  Trastevere.     See  chapter  on  the  Police. 


122  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C&SARS. 

moved  soon  after  to  the  Kircherian  Museum  at  the  Collegio 
Romano,  where  it  is  still  to  be  seen.  This  graffito,  illus- 
trated by  Garrucci,  Visconti,  Becker,  De  Rossi,  and  Kraus, 
contains  a  blasphemous  caricature  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
—  a  caricature  designed  only  a  few  years  after  the  first 
preaching  of  the  gospel  in  Rome  by  the  Apostles.  Here  is  a 
photographic  reproduction  of  the  precious  sketch.  Our 
Lord  is  represented  with  the  head  of  a  donkey,  tied  to  the 
cross,  with  the  feet  resting  on  a  horizontal  piece  of  board. 
To  the  left  of  the  cross  there  is  the  figure  of  the  Christian 
youth  Alexamenos,  with  arms  raised  in  adoration  of  his 
crucified  God,  and  the  whole  composition  is  illustrated  and 
explained  by  the  legend,  AAEHAMEN02  2EBETE  0EON  : 
"  Alexamenos  worships  (his)  God." 

During  the  rule  of  Claudius,  the  successor  of  Caligula, 
little  or  nothing  was  done  towards  the  enlargement  or  the 
embellishment  of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars.  Nero,  how- 
ever, the  successor  of  Claudius,  conceived  the  gigantic  plan 
of  renewing  and  of  rebuilding  from  the  very  foundations, 
not  only  the  imperial  residence,  but  the  whole  metropolis  ; 
and  as  the  metropolis  was  crowded  at  every  corner  with 
shrines  and  altars  and  small  temples  which  religious  super- 
stition made  absolutely  inviolable,  and  as  the  slightest 
work  of  improvement  was  fiercely  opposed  by  private  own- 
ers of  property,  and  gave  occasion  to  an  endless  amount 
of  lawsuits,  and  appraisals,  and  fights  among  the  experts, ' 
he  rid  himself  of  all  these  difficulties  in  the  simplest  and 
cleverest  way.  He  ordered  his  favorite  architects,  Severus 
and  Celer,  to  draw  a  new  plan  of  the  city,  and  to  draw  it 
according  to  the  best  principles  of  hygiene  and  comfort ; 
then  he  caused  an  enormous  quantity  of  wooden  booths  and 
tents  to  be  secretly  prepared,  and  ordered  fleets  of  grain- 


\ 


CARICATURE   OF  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 
In  the  Kircherian  Museum,  Rome. 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS.  123 

laden  vessels  to  be  kept  in  readiness  to  sail  from  the  various 
harbors  of  the  Mediterranean  at  a  moment's  notice. 

Having  taken  all  these  precautions,  and  insured  the  suc- 
cess of  his  stratagem  as  far  as  human  foresight  could, 
Nero  set  the  whole  city  into  a  blaze  of  fire,  and  did  it  so 
neatly  that  although,  of  the  fourteen  regions,  or  wards,  into 
which  Rome  had  been  divided  by  Augustus,  three  were  an- 
nihilated completely  and  seven  for  the  greater  part,  yet  not 
a  single  human  life  seems  to  have  been  lost  in  the  gigantic 
conflagration. 

The  homeless  crowds  found  a  ready  and  comfortable  shel- 
ter under  the  booths  and  tents,  raised  by  thousands  in  pub- 
lic parks  and  squares ;  at  the  same  time,  a  large  number  of 
vessels  laden  with  grain  from  Sardinia,  Sicily,  Numidia,  and 
Egypt  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  and  relieved  the 
emperor  from  any  anxiety  as  far  as  famine  was  concerned. 
These  vessels,  as  soon  as  they  had  discharged  their  cargoes, 
were  filled  up  again  with  the  debris  of  the  conflagration, 
which  was  thrown  into  the  marshes  surrounding  the  delta 
of  the  Tiber. 

Even  in  our  age  of  progress,  and  material  improvement, 
and  comfort,  we  cannot  help  admiring  the  profound  wisdom 
shown  by  the  two  imperial  architects,  Severus  and  Celer,  in 
designing  and  rebuilding  the  city.  The  straight  line  and 
the  right  angle  were  followed,  as  far  as  could  be  done  in  a 
hilly  region,  in  tracing  the  new  streets  and  avenues  through 
the  still  smoking  ruins.  Hasty  and  irregular  constructions 
were  forbidden ;  the  line  of  frontage  of  each  new  building 
had  to  be  sanctioned  and  approved  by  one  of  the  official 
surveyors.  Large  squares  were  opened  in  place  of  filthy, 
thickly  inhabited  quarters.  The  height  of  private  houses 
was  not  allowed  to  exceed  double  the  width  of  the  street, 
and  porticoes  were  to  be  built  in  front  of  each  one,  to  pro- 


124  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C^SABS. 

vide  the  citizens  with  cool,  sheltered  walks  in  case  of  rain 
or  of  excessive  heat.  Lastly,  wooden  ceilings  were  excluded 
from  the  lower  story  of  private  dwellings,  and  absolute 
isolation  on  every  side  made  compulsory. 

In  the  rebuilding  of  the  city  the  emperor  secured  for 
himself  the  lion's  share ;  and  his  Golden  House,  domus 
aurea,  of  which  we  possess  such  beautiful  remains,  occu- 
pied the  whole  extent  from  the  Palatine  to  the  Viminal, 
where  now  the  central  railway  station  has  been  erected. 
Its  area  amounted  to  nearly  a  square  mile :  and  this  enor- 
mous district  was  appropriated,  or  rather  usurped,  by  the 
emperor,  right  in  the  centre  of  a  city  numbering  about  two 
million  inhabitants. 

Of  the  wonders  of  the  Golden  House  it  is  enough  to  say 
that  there  were  comprised  within  the  precincts  of  the  en- 
chanting residence  waterfalls  supplied  by  an  aqueduct  fifty 
miles  long;  lakes  and  rivers  shaded  by  dense  masses  of 
foliage,  with  harbors  and  docks  for  the  imperial  galleys; 
a  vestibule  containing  a  bronze  colossus  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  high ;  porticoes  three  thousand  feet  long ; 
farms  and  vineyards,  pasture-grounds  and  woods  teeming 
with  the  rarest  and  costliest  kind  of  game ;  zoological  and 
botanical  gardens ;  sulphur  baths  supplied  from  the  springs 
of  the  aquae  Albulce,  twelve  miles  distant ;  sea  baths  sup- 
plied from  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  sixteen  miles 
distant  at  the  nearest  point ;  thousands  of  columns  crowned 
with  capitals  of  Corinthian  gilt  metal ;  thousands  of  statues 
stolen  from  Greece  and  Asia  Minor;  walls  encrusted  with 
gems  and  mother-of-pearl;  banqueting-halls  with  ivory 
ceilings,  from  which  rare  flowers  and  precious  perfumes 
could  fall  gently  on  the  recumbent  guests.  More  marvel- 
lous still  was  the  ceiling  of  the  state  dining-room.  It  was 
spherical  in  shape,  and  cut  in  ivory,  to  represent  the  con- 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS.  125 

stellated  skies,  and  kept  in  constant  motion  by  machinery 
in  imitation  of  the  movements  of  the  stars  and  planets. 
All  these  details  sound  like  fairy-tales,  like  the  dream  of 
a  fertile  imagination ;  still  they  are  described  minutely  by 
contemporary  and  serious  writers,  by  Suetonius,  by  Martial, 
and  by  Tacitus.  Suetonius  adds  that  the  day  Nero  took 
possession  of  his  Golden  House,  he  was  heard  to  exclaim, 
"  At  last  I  am  lodged  like  a  man." 

The  wonders  created  by  him,  however,  did  not  last  very 
long.  Otho,  his  successor,  on  the  very  day  of  his  election 
to  the  throne,  signed  an  order  of  fifty  millions  of  sesterces 
(two  million  dollars)  ad  peragendam  auream  domum, —  to 
bring  the  Golden  House  to  perfection  ;  but  after  his  murder 
Vespasian  and  Titus  gave  back  to  the  people  the  greater 
portion  of  the  ground  usurped  by  Nero.  They  built  the 
Colosseum  on  the  very  spot  of  Nero's  artificial  lake,  and  the 
thermca  of  Titus  on  the  foundation  of  his  private  palace ; 
they  respected  only  that  portion  of  Nero's  insane  construc- 
tions which  was  comprised  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
Palatine  hill.  This  section  of  the  imperial  palace,  facing 
the  Colosseum  and  the  great  fountain  named  the  Meta 
sudans,  has  been  charmingly  described  by  Cardinal  Wise- 
man as  the  scene  of  St.  Sebastian's  martyrdom.  It  is  the 
only  portion  of  the  Palatine  that  has  never  been  excavated, 
—  at  least,  as  far  as  we  can  judge ;  and,  accordingly,  I  have 
little  or  nothing  to  say  about  it.  Vespasian  and  his  sons, 
in  their  turn,  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  doing 
something  to  the  imperial  residence ;  and  as  the  houses  of 
Tiberius  and  Caligula  (on  the  northern  summit  of  the  hill) 
were  separated  from  the  house  of  Augustus  (on  the  southern 
summit)  by  a  deep  gorge,  they  filled  up  the  gap  by  means 
of  huge  vaulted  substructures,  and  on  the  artificial  platform 
thus  obtained  they  raised  a  new  building,  the  Flavian 


126  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CMSARS. 

palace,  the  handsomest  and  nobl'est  of  the  whole  Palatine 
group,  and  used  exclusively  for  state  receptions  and  state 
banquets. 

The  chronology  of  the  group,  as  far  as  important  or  in- 
teresting additions  are  concerned,  ends  with  Septimius  Sev- 
erus,  who  built  a  magnificent  palace  at  the  south  corner  of 
the  hill,  facing  the  Appian  Way  and  the  road  to  Ostia,  in 
order,  as  his  sharp-tongued  biographer  says,  that  his  Afri- 
can countrymen,  arriving  in  Rome  by  the  way  of  Pozzuoli 
and  Ostia,  might  be  struck  at  once  with  a  specimen  of  his 
grandeur.  And  magnificent  indeed  was  the  wing  of  the 
palace  built  by  Septimius  Severus,  and  called  Septizonium, 
because  it  was  seven  stories  high.  The  terrace  on  the  top 
of  the  building  towered  to  the  height  of  210  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  surrounding  streets,  commanding  one  of  the 
finest  views  over  the  metropolis. 

After  Severus,  we  have  records  of  more  or  less  important 
restorations  to  the  palace,  not  of  additions ;  unless  this 
name  may  be  given  to  some  baths  constructed  by  Helaga- 
balus,  between  Nero's  house  and  the  Via  Sacra,  the  remains 
of  which  were  brought  to  light  in  1874.  The  mention  I 
have  made  of  that  infamous  youth  leads  me  to  speak  of 
a  very  curious  and  scarcely  known  incident  in  which  he 
plays  a  prominent  part. 

In  the  year  549  of  Rome,  the  high-priests,  after  consulting 
the  Sibylline  books  on  the  issue  of  the  second  Punic  war, 
found  that,  to  insure  the  safety  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
Roman  Commonwealth,  it  was  necessary  to  send  an  embassy 
to  Pessinus  in  Phrygia,  to  get  possession  of  a  meteoric 
stone,  fallen  from  heaven,  which  was  worshipped  there  under 
the  name  of  the  "  Great  Mother  of  the  Gods,"  or  Cybele. 
The  embassy  succeeded  in  securing  the  stone,  and  I  need 
not  repeat  the  beautiful  description  which  Livy  has  left 


THE  SEPTIZONIUM  IN  THE  XVlTH  CENTURY. 
From  a  drawing  by  an  unknown  artist  in  the  Uffizi,  Florence. 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C&SARS.  127 

(xxiv.  14)  of  its  arrival  and  solemn  reception  in  Rome. 
On  April  4th  of  the  following  year,  550,  the  precious  relic 
was  deposited  temporarily  in  the  temple  of  Victory,  on  the 
Palatine ;  and  twelve  years  later  it  was  finally  located  in  a 
temple  built  for  the  purpose  by  the  censors  M.  Livius  and 
C.  Claudius,  known  to  topographers  and  historians  as  the 
temple  of  the  great  mother  of  the  gods:  cedes  magnceDeum 
Matris.  We  possess  a  very  accurate  description  of  this 
meteoric  stone :  it  was  conical  in  shape,  of  a  deep  brown 
color ;  it  looked  like  a  piece  of  lava,  and  ended  in  a  point 
so  sharp  that  Servius  calls  it  acus  Matris  Deum,  the 
"  needle  "  of  Cybele.  The  stone  was  set  in  a  silver  statue 
of  the  goddess,  in  place  of  the  head. 

Among  the  wild  manias  of  Helagabalus,  Herodianus 
describes  the  attempt  to  collect  in  his  private  chapel, 
attached  to  the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  the  most  sacred 
relics  of  the  Roman  Empire,  such  as  the  Palladium,  the 
ancilia,  and,  of  course,  the  meteoric  stone  of  Pessinus.  So 
far  as  this  last  is  concerned  he  succeeded  in  his  attempt : 
he  stole  the  relic  from  the  temple,  and  placed  it  in  his 
chapel,  under  the  name  of  Sol  Helagabalus,  the  Sun 
Helagabalus.  The  description  left  by  Herodianus  of  the 
stone  is  absolutely  identical  with  the  description  of  the 
needle  of  Cybele.  "  The  stone,"  he  says,  "  is  very  large, 
shaped  as  a  cone,  and  black  in  color.  People  think  it  a 
stone  fallen  from  heaven,  and  believe  also  that  some  acci- 
dental irregularities  in  the  surface  represent  the  image  of 
the  sun,  modelled  by  supernatural  hands." 

When  the  excavations  of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  began, 
about  twenty  years  ago,  I  felt  sanguine  of  the  recovery 
of  this  relic,  since  it  was  an  object  too  common  to  have 
attracted  the  attention  either  of  the  barbarians,  when  they 
pillaged  the  palace,  or  of  former  excavators,  unacquainted 


128  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS. 

with  its  value.  My  hopes  were  disappointed,  however ;  and 
it  is  only  lately  that  I  have  learned  of  its  discovery,  and 
probable  destruction,  in  1730.  In  reading  the  book 
written  by  Monsignor  Francesco  Bianchini  on  the  excava- 
tions carried  on  in  the  Palatine  by  Duke  Francis  of  Parma, 
at  the  beginning  of  last  century  (a  book  which  is  little 
known  in  spite  of  its  enormous  size  and  the  useful 
information  it  contains),  I  have  found  the  following  pas- 
sage. After  describing  the  discovery  of  the  private  chapel 
of  the  emperors,  Monsignor  Bianchini  says :  "  I  am  sorry 
that  no  fragment  of  a  statue,  or  bas-relief,  or  inscription 
has  been  found  in  the  chapel,  because  this  absence  of  any 
positive  indication  prevents  us  from  ascertaining  the  name 
of  the  divinity  to  whom  the  place  was  principally  dedicated. 
The  only  object  which  I  discovered  in  it  was  a  stone 
nearly  three  feet  high,  conical  in  shape,  of  a  deep  brown 
color,  looking  very  much  like  a  piece  of  lava,  and  ending 
in  a  sharp  point.  No  attention  was  paid  to  it,  and  I  know 
not  what  became  of  it." 

I  shall  bring  this  chapter  to  a  close  with  a  few  remarks 
on  the  inhabitants  of  the  enormous  mass  of  dwellings 
which  the  palace  of  the  Caesars  formed. 

The  organization  of  the  imperial  household,  the  number 
of  the  servants  and  attendants,  the  title  and  the  nature  of 
their  duties,  are  details  perfectly  well  known  and  full  of 
interest,  especially  if  compared  with  the  organization  of 
modern  "  maisons  royales  ;  "  and  the  way  we  have  gained 
our  information  on  the  subject  is  this.  Servants  attached 
to  the  person  or  to  the  house  of  an  emperor  or  an  empress, 
as  well  as  servants  attached  to  the  person  or  to  the  house 
of  a  patrician,  usually  bound  themselves  into  a  corporation, 
a  collegium  as  it  was  called,  for  the  purpose  of  providing 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS.  12i) 

themselves  with  a  common  and  decent  resting-place,  with  a 
proper  funeral,  and  with  the  view  of  securing  a  suitable 
commemoration  on  the  anniversary  day  of  their  death. 
Sometimes  the  columbaria  were  bought  by  subscription, 
raised  among  the  servants  of  one  family  or  of  one  person  ; 
sometimes  servants  of  two  or  more  persons  or  families 
joined  in  the  purchase ;  sometimes  their  lords  and  masters 
would  present  them  with  the  much-wished-for  resting-place. 
Columbaria  of  ordinary  size  contain  from  thirty  to  fifty  in- 
cinerated bodies,  and  each  cinerary  urn  is  labelled  with  a 
marble  slab,  giving  the  name,  the  age,  and  the  official  title 
of  the  deceased.  I  need  not  explain  what  an  amount  of  use- 
ful and  genuine  information  can  be  gathered  from  the  dis- 
covery of  well-preserved  columbaria  belonging  to  one  house- 
hold. We  are  able  to  make  a  personal  review  of  its  various 
members ;  we  can  investigate  their  life  and  condition ;  we 
can  picture  in  our  minds  the  organization  of  a  rich  house, 
no  matter  whether  patrician  or  imperial. 

Hundreds  of  these  columbaria  have  been  discovered  since 
the  Renaissance.  Two,  however,  deserve  special  attention,  as 
capable  of  throwing  ample  light  on  the  matter  which  I  have 
undertaken  to  illustrate  :  the  columbaria  of  the  servants 
of  the  Statilii  and  the  columbaria  of  the  servants  of  the 
Empress  Livia :  one  describing  the  household  of  a  patrician 
family,  noblest  among  the  noble,  and  connected  with  the 
imperial  family  by  the  marriage  of  one  of  its  members, 
Statilia  Messalina,  to  Claudius;  the  other  describing  the 
household  of  an  empress.  I  bring  the  two  instances  into 
comparison  to  show  what  little  difference  in  luxury  and 
comfort  there  was  between  the  house  of  the  sovereign  and 
that  of  a  wealthy  subject ;  and  to  show  also  how  poor  the 
millionaires  of  to-day  must  feel  in  presence  of  such  a  dis- 
play of  grandeur  and  of  such  legions  of  attendants. 


130  THE  PALACE   OF  THE   C^SARS. 

The  columbaria  of  the  servants  of  the  Statilian  family 
came  to  light  in  1875,  in  that  portion  of  the  Esquiline 
cemetery  which  stretches  from  the  so-called  temple  of 
Minerva  Medica  to  the  Porta  Maggiore.  The  excavations 
lasted  only  a  few  weeks;  but  in  this  short  time  not  less 
than  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  inscriptions  were  discovered, 
together  with  many  hundred  objects  in  terra-cotta,  glass, 
bone,  ivory,  bronze,  gold,  silver,  marble,  belonging  to  the 
funeral  supellex  of  the  deceased.  Later  excavations,  car- 
ried on  in  the  same  place  in  1880  by  the  municipality  of 
Rome,  have  brought  the  total  number  of  inscribed  tomb- 
stones, discovered  within  an  area  of  a  few  thousand  square 
feet,  to  more  than  eight  hundred. 

The  columbaria  of  the  servants  and  freedmen  of  the 
house  of  Augustus,  and  especially  of  Livia,  his  empress, 
were  discovered  between  November,  1725,  and  January, 
1726,  in  a  vineyard  then  belonging  to  Giuseppe  Benci,  on 
the  left  side  of  the  Appian  Way,  at  the  exact  distance  of 
5,800  feet  outside  Porta  S.  Sebastiano.  The  discovery  was 
beautifully  illustrated  by  an  eye-witness,  Monsignore  Fran- 
cesco Bianchini,  from  whose  book,  dated  1727,  I  quote  the 
following  particulars.  He  begins  by  remarking  that  be- 
tween the  first  and  the  second  milestone  of  the  Appian 
Way  many  tombs  had  been  discovered  already,  all  built 
by  Augustus  for  his  household  ;  that  one  of  them,  found 
by  Fabretti  near  the  bridge  spanning  the  river  Almo,  con- 
tained in  its  three  rooms  more  than  three  thousand  cine- 
rary urns.  The  ashes  of  an  equal  number  of  persons  had 
been  deposited  in  the  tombs  which  he  describes.  The  con- 
sequence is,  that  in  two  sepulchres  only,  comprising  six 
rooms,  not  less  than  six  thousand  servants  and  officials  of 
one  emperor  and  of  his  relatives  were  buried,  —  a  number 
which  would  seem  altogether  incredible  if  we  did  not  pos- 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE   CAESARS.  131 

sess  the  evidence  of  many  eye-witnesses  and  that  of  the 
tombs  themselves,  which  still  exist,  although  in  a  state  of 
great  dilapidation.  It  is  true  that  Augustus  reigned  for 
nearly  half  a  century,  and  that,  for  a  reason  which  I  fail  to 
comprehend,  many  of  his  servants  died  very  young,  and 
consequently  were  replaced  by  others  many  times  during 
his  lifetime.  It  is  true  that,  besides  the  servants  strictly  so 
called,  their  children  and  brothers  or  sisters  were  sometimes 
buried  with  them.  Still,  the  number  of  six  thousand,  as 
a  minimum,  is  simply  astonishing.  Out  of  this  powerful 
army  not  less  than  six  hundred  were  attached  to  the  per- 
son of  Livia. 

One  circumstance  which  helps  us  to  explain  such  an  ex- 
traordinary state  of  things  is  this :  the  offices  and  duties 
which  in  modern  times,  and  even  in  the  richest  houses,  are 
intrusted  to '  one  or  two  individuals,  in  ancient  times  were 
divided  and  subdivided  to  an  almost  ridiculous  extent. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  department  of  the  wardrobes.  There 
were,  in  Livia's  household,  a  Parmenius,  a  purpura,  keeper 
of  purple  robes ;  an  Arion,  a  veste  matutina,  keeper  of  the 
morning-dresses ;  a  Rhodanus,  a  veste  regia,  keeper  of  the 
imperial  robe ;  a  Bira  Canaciana,  a  veste  magna,  keeper  of 
state  robes ;  a  Eutactus,  capsarius,  keeper  of  overcoats ; 
a  Blastus,  lanipendius,  keeper  of  the  manufactured  woollen 
goods ;  and  then  many  vestiplici  or  vestipUcce,  folders  of 
clothes.  Take  also  the  department  of  the  personal  toilet. 
We  have  a  general  officer  ab  ornamentis,  whose  duties, 
however,  are  not  well  defined ;  an  Aponia,  a  tutulo  ornatrix, 
a  specialist  in  dressing  the  hair  in  the  fashion  of  a  high 
toupet ;  a  Helico,  ad  unguenta,  keeper  of  perfumery ; 
eight  aurifices,  or  goldsmiths,  an  indefinite  number  of 
margaritarii,  or  jewellers ;  a  Secundus,  aquarius,  or  reg- 
ulator of  hot  and  cold  water  for  the  bath ;  a  M.  Livius, 


132       THE  PALACE  OF  THE  C&SARS. 

calciator,  keeper  and  maker  of  imperial  shoes ;  a  Verania, 
a  sandalio,  keeper  of  that  special  kind  of  shoes  which  were 
called  sandals ;  a  Julia  Hilara,  ornatrix ;  another  Julia, 
auriculae  ornatrix;  a  Calene,  untrix,  and  so  forth.  The 
same  subdivisions  of  duties  occur  in  the  department  of 
silver  and  gold  plate.  Then  there  was  a  Lydus,  a  sede 
Augustm,  keeper  of  Li  via' s  chair ;  an  Aurelia,  a  cur  a 
catellce,  governess  of  the  favorite  pet  dog ;  a  Syneros,  ad 
Imagines,  keeper  of  family  portraits,  and  so  on.  It  is  no 
wonder,  with  the  particulars  which  I  have  given,  that  the 
servants  of  the  various  members  of  the  imperial  family 
reached  such  large  numbers  ;  indeed,  their  number  was  so 
large  that,  to  provide  for  their  assistance  in  case  of  sick- 
ness, not  one,  but  many  physicians  of  both  sexes  were  per- 
manently engaged,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of  a 
head  physician,  supra  medicos,  named  M.  Livius  Orestes. 
The  servants  attached  to  the  person  of  Statilius  Taurus, 
consul  in  the  year  764,  and  to  his  children,  numbered  at 
least  three  hundred  and  seventy.  I  say  at  least,  because  the 
columbaria  discovered  in  1875  on  the  Esquiline  could  not 
have  contained  the  whole  body  of  servants ;  there  were 
other  tombs  of  the  Statilian  household,  as  proved  by  in- 
scriptions discovered  much  nearer  the  Porta  Maggiore  in 
1880,  in  which  the  mention  of  Statilian  freedmen  occurs 
many  times.  I  shall  give  the  titles  of  such  of  them  as 
seem  curious  and  full  of  interest. 

First  of  all  comes  an  Asturconarius,  keeper  of  the 
Spanish  horse  which  Statilius  Taurus  had  bought  in  the 
province  of  Asturia,  a  province  famous  for  its  breed  of  easy 
riding-horses.  Then  comes  a  puer  capsarius,  a  boy  who 
carried  the  overcoat  for  his  master;  two  wet-nurses,  nu- 
trices ;  a  midwife,  obstetrix ;  a  collector  of  legacies  and 
bequests ;  a  locator  of  town  and  country  property ;  a  keeper 


THE  PALACE   OF  THE  CAESARS.  133 

of  the  family  tomb ;  a  keeper  of  the  clothes  of  the  grand- 
father ;  a  keeper  of  bathing  implements,  such  as  sponges, 
scraping-knives,  ointments,  and  so  on.  Amidst  this  vari- 
ety of  duties  intrusted  to  male  servants,  from  the  washer- 
man, fullOj  to  medicus  ocularius,  or  oculist,  we  find  females 
employed  in  a  very  restricted  number  of  occupations,  almost 
exclusively  in  carding  wool.  The  carding  of  wool  at  home 
was  one  of  the  oldest  traditional  occupations  of  a  Roman 
lady,  held  in  great  estimation  as  late  as  the  beginning  of 
the  Empire.  The  highest  praise  which  could  be  bestowed 
on  the  mother  of  the  family  was  contained  in  the  words, 
Domum  servavit,  lanam  fecit,  "She  stayed  at  home  to  card 
the  wool."  The  family  of  Statilius  Taurus  seems  to  have 
kept  faithful  to  the  simplicity  of  good  old  times,  in  spite 
of  the  high  rank  and  the  honors  and  riches  acquired  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Empire.  On  the  tombstones  dis- 
covered in  the  columbaria  at  the  Porta  Maggiore,  we  find 
the  mention  of  a  female  director  of  the  wool  manufactory 
(lanipenda),  a  weaver  and  carder  of  wools  (tonstrix),  and  a 
large  number  of  dressmakers  and  spinners  (sarcinatrices 
and  quasillarice).  The  wool  manufactory  was  probably 
established  in  a  separate  wing  of  the  mansion,  apart  from 
the  men's  quarters,  and  its  entrance  was  watched  by  a 
doorkeeper,  ostiaria. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    HOUSE    OF    THE    VESTALS. 

THE  discovery  of  the  House  of  the  Vestals,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Palatine  hill,  has  supplied  the  friends  and  admirers 
of  old  Rome  with  a  new  and  fascinating  subject  of  inquiry. 
After  toiling  so  long  over  ground  searched  and  pillaged 
many  a  time  before,  with  no  prospect  or  hope  of  surprising 
discoveries,  our  perseverance  in  excavating  the  Roman  fo- 
rum and  its  vicinity  has  at  last  been  splendidly  rewarded. 
The  discovery  of  the  Atrium  Vestse  (the  official  denomina- 
tion of  the  convent)  settles  at  once  ah1  controversy  con- 
cerning the  topography  of  this  famous  district  of  ancient 
Rome ;  and  this  scientific  achievement  has  been  accompa- 
nied by  no  less  important  material  results.  Between  the 
middle  of  December,  1883,  and  the  end  of  the  following  Jan- 
uary, we  brought  to  light  fifteen  marble  pedestals,  with 
eulogistic  inscriptions  describing  the  life  of  the  Vestales 
Maxima  (the  official  title  of  the  elder  Vestals,  or  high- 
priestesses  of  Vesta) ;  five  inscriptions  relating  to  historical 
subjects ;  eleven  life-size  statues ;  nine  important  fragments 
of  statues;  twenty-seven  busts  and  portrait  heads;  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-four  silver  coins  ;  one  gold  coin  ;  two 
pieces  of  jewelry ;  several  columns  of  breccia  coralina  and 
of  breccia  di  Egitto,  which  rank  among  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  antique  marbles  ;  besides  many  other  fragments, 
which,  in  a  less  promising  land,  would  be  regarded  as  a 
treasure  by  themselves. 

In  my  long  experience  and  practice  of  archaeological  re- 


THE  HOUSE    OF  THE    VESTALS.  135 

search  and  literature,  never  have  I  met  with  a  subject 
more  delightful  and  interesting.  Historical  accounts  of 
this  lovely  sisterhood  have  a  charm  of  their  own,  which  we 
fail  to  recognize  in  other  Roman  religious  corporations.  In 
speaking  of  the  Vestal  Virgins,  in  describing  their  house, 
—  the  secrets  of  which,  from  the  foundation  of  Rome  to 
the  fall  of  the  Empire,  were  never  revealed  to  mankind,  — 
it  is  impossible  not  to  give  the  reins  to  imagination  and 
sentiment.  Let  us  recall  to  life  the  silent  ruins ;  let  us 
vivify  these  halls,  these  porticoes,  with  the  presence  of  maid- 
ens clad  in  snow-white  garments,  which  reflected,  as  it  were, 
the  purity  of  their  minds  and  souls ;  in  the  very  prime 
of  beauty,  youth,  and  strength ;  daughters  of  the  noblest 
families  ;  depositaries  of  state  secrets,  confidants  of  the  im- 
perial household,  and  faithful  keepers  of  the  sacred  tokens 
of  the  Roman  Commonwealth.  The  very  faults  committed 
by  a  few  Vestals  in  the  lapse  of  eleven  centuries,  and  the 
penalties  they  underwent  to  expiate  their  shame,  quiver- 
ing under  the  bloody  rod  of  the  high-priest,  or  breathing 
their  last  breath  in  the  solitude  of  the  tomb,  in  which  they 
had  been  buried  alive,  —  these  sins  and  these  expiations,  I 
say,  deeply  affect  the  minds  of  visitors  to  the  house,  and 
still  more,  the  minds  of  those  who  have  selected  it  as  a 
special  subject  of  investigation. 

The  origin  of  the  worship  of  Vesta  is  very  simple.  In 
prehistoric  times,  when  fire  could  be  obtained  only  from 
the  friction  of  two  sticks  of  dry  wood,  or  from  sparks  of 
flint,  every  village  kept  a  public  fire  burning  day  and  night, 
in  a  central  hut,  at  the  disposition  of  each  family.  The 
care  of  watching  the  precious  element  was  intrusted  to 
young  girls,  because  girls,  as  a  rule,  did  not  follow  their 
parents  and  brothers  to  the  far-away  pasture-grounds,  and 


136  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

did  not  share  with  them  the  fatigues  of  hunting  or  fishing 
expeditions.  In  course  of  time,  however,  this  simple  prac- 
tice became  a  kind  of  sacred  institution,  especially  at  Alba 
Longa,  the  mother  country  of  Rome  ;  and  when  a  large 
party  of  Alban  shepherds  fled  from  the  volcanic  eruptions 
of  the  Alban  craters  into  the  plain  below,  and  settled  on  the 
marshy  banks  of  the  Tiber,  they  followed,  naturally,  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  mother  country,  and  the  worship  of  Vesta 
—  represented  by  the  public  fire  and  the  girls  attending  to 
it  —  was  duly  organized  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine  hill,  on 
the  borders  of  the  market-place  (forum). 

We  possess  many  models  of  prehistoric  huts  and  temples, 
made  by  the  very  people  who  inhabited  or  built  them.  I 
speak  of  the  terra-cotta  hand-made  and  sun-dried  cinerary 
urns  (called  by  Lubbock  hut-urns),  discovered  for  the  first 
time  in  1817,  in  the  cemetery  of  Alba  Longa.  On  page  29 
is  the  drawing  of  one,  from  the  Vatican  collections,  which 
may  be  taken  as  representing  exactly  the  shape  and  appear- 
ance of  the  original  temple  of  Vesta. 

No  girl  under  six,  no  girl  above  ten,  years  of  age  could 
be  chosen  as  a  priestess  of  the  sacred  fire.  It  was  neces- 
sary, besides,  that  both  her  parents  should  be  living,  both 
of  free  condition,  both  irreproachable  in  public  and  in  pri- 
vate life.  In  the  election  described  by  Tacitus  (Ann.  ii. 
86),  which  took  place  A.  D.  19,  and  in  which  the  noble 
daughters  of  Domitius  Pollio  and  Fonteius  Agrippa  stood 
as  candidates,  the  Senate  gave  the  preference  to  the  for- 
mer, because  there  had  been  some  kind  of  misunderstand- 
ing between  Fonteius  Agrippa  and  his  wife,  and  this  mis- 
understanding of  the  parents  was  thought  by  the  Senators 
to  make  the  little  girl  less  acceptable  to  the  goddess. 

Even  the  body  of  the  candidate  had  to  be  perfect ;  girls 
with  defective  eyesight,  or  a  lisp,  or  marked  by  the  slight- 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  137 

est  physical  imperfection  were  absolutely  excluded  from  the 
sisterhood. 

The  number  of  the  Vestals  was  limited  to  six ;  no  new 
election  could  take  place,  unless  a  vacancy  was  caused  by 
the  death  of  one  of  the  sisters.  Among  the  many  doc- 
uments which  certify  this  particular,  I  cite  one  only,  the 
well-known  medallion  of  Julia 
Domna,  showing  the  six  Vestals 
sacrificing  before  the  shrine  of 
their  goddess,  which  had  just 
been  rebuilt  at  the  private  ex- 
pense of  the  empress. 

As  soon  as  the  election  was 
duly  sanctioned,  the  virgin  was 
shown  into  the  Atrium  Vestae, 
where  the  ceremony  of  inau- 
guration took  place.  It  began  „  ,  „.  , 

Medallion  showing  the  Six  Vestals. 

by  cutting  her  hair,  which  was 

appended,  as  a  votive  offering,  to  the  Lotus  capillata,  a 
tree  which,  when  Pliny  wrote  his  "  Natural  History,"  was 
more  than  five  hundred  years  old.  Next,  the  girl  was 
clothed  in  white  garments,  and  duly  sworn  to  her  sacred 
duties.  And  as  everything  was  sweet  and  gentle  in  this 
worship  of  Vesta,  the  novice  exchanged,  for  the  time 
being,  her  own  name  for  that  of  Amata,  the  beloved. 
The  legal  term  of  service  was  thirty  years ;  after  which,  the 
Vestal,  being  between  thirty-six  and  forty  years  of  age,  was 
free  to  return  home,  and  even  to  marry.  The  trentennial 
service  was  divided  into  three  periods  of  ten  years  each :  in 
the  first  decade  the  novice  was  initiated  into  the  myste- 
ries of  the  place,  and  instructed  by  the  senior  sisters ;  in 
the  second  decade  she  practised  her  duties ;  in  the  third 
she  taught  the  novices.  The  eldest  among  them  was  called 


138  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

Maxima,  and  presided  over  the  institution.  On  page  141 
is  the  portrait-bust  of  an  abbess,  discovered  in  the  Atrium 
on  December  12,  1883,  which  gives  a  perfect  idea  of  the 
monastic  dress  of  that  age. 

Very  few  Vestals,  however,  took  advantage  of  the  per- 
mission given  by  law  to  leave  the  Atrium  and  reenter  the 
wicked  world,  because  the  honors,  the  privileges,  and  the 
riches  they  enjoyed  as  Vestals  far  exceeded  any  conceivable 
advantage  of  worldly  or  married  life. 

In  the  first  place,  they  were  exceedingly  wealthy :  wealthy 
from  the  revenues  of  the  order,  which  possessed  a  large 
amount  of  landed  property;  and  also  from  special  allow- 
ances made  to  each  one  of  them  by  their  families,  or  by  the 
head  of  the  state.  When  Cornelia  was  elected  in  Scantia's 
place,  A.  D.  24,  Tiberius  presented  her  with  a  sum  corre- 
sponding to  $87,705  (438,525  francs  of  our  money).  The 
same  emperor  gave  2,192,625  francs  ($438,525)  to  the 
daughter  of  Fonteius  Agrippa,  as  a  consolation  for  the 
preference  shown  by  the  Senate  for  her  successful  rival, 
the  daughter  of  Domitius  Pollio. 

The  Vestals  did  not  come  under  the  dominion  of  the 
common  law ;  they  were  not  even  subject  to  the  authority 
of  the  censor.  By  the  simple  fact  of  their  adoption  into 
the  order,  they  were  at  once  delivered  from  the  patria  po- 
testas,  the  paternal  authority,  and  obtained  the  right  of 
making  their  will  (jus  testamenti).  The  only  annoyance 
they  could  encounter  was  that  of  being  summoned  as  wit- 
nesses in  state  trials.  Their  presence  made  the  wrong 
right,  of  course  within  certain  limits.  We  are  told  by  Sue- 
tonius of  a  curious  instance  of  this  wonderful  power  of  a 
Vestal.  One  of  Tiberius's  ancestors,  Appius  Claudius,  was 
possessed  by  the  most  violent  desire  of  celebrating  a  tri- 
umph. His  application  having  been  negatived  by  the 


PORTRAIT   OF   A  VESTALIS   MAXIMA, 

Discov.  -red  in  the  house  of  the  Vestals. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  139 

majority  of  voters,  instead  of  yielding  to  the  popular  de- 
cree, he  induced  his  daughter,  a  member  of  the  sisterhood, 
to  take  a  seat  in  the  triumphal  chariot,  and,  under  her 
protection,  he  succeeded  in  driving,  undisturbed,  up  to  the 
Capitol. 

The  seats  of  honor  were  reserved  for  the  Vestals  in  the 
theatres,  in  the  amphitheatre,  and  in  the  circus.  The  empress 
herself  was  obliged,  by  a  decree  of  the  Senate,  dated  A.  D. 
24,  to  sit  among  the  Vestals,  whenever  she  wished  to  appear 
in  these  public  places  of  resort. 

The  right  of  driving  in  the  streets  of  Rome  must  also  be 
ranked  among  their  most  extraordinary  privileges.  Ladies 
generally  used  the  lectica,  or  sedan-chair.  The  Vestals,  on 
the  contrary,  had  two  kinds  of  carriages  :  the  state  carriage, 
called  plostrum,  or  currus  arcuatus,  a  heavy  old-fashioned 
sort  of  vehicle,  and  the  daily  carriage,  called  by  Prudentius 
molle  pilentum.  They  drove  out  preceded  by  a  lictor,  and 
every  one,  even  the  consuls,  was  obliged  to  make  room  for 
them  in  their  passage. 

They  owned  a  stable  of  their  own,  and  therefore  were 
not  obliged  to  hire  horses  or  carriages.  This  particular 
was  revealed  by  a  curious  discovery.  Every  citizen,  ac- 
cording to  the  Roman  law,  was  subject  to  the  collatio  equo- 
rum,  or  compulsory  seizure  of  horses,  whenever  the  state  was 
in  need  of  them.  Exceptions  were  made  in  favor  of  the  im- 
perial family,  of  high  officers,  of  high  priests,  of  diplomatic 
"  couriers,"  and  of  the  Vestals.  In  1735,  a  bronze  tablet 
was  discovered  in  the  farm  of  Prata-porcia,  near  Frascati, 
with  the  inscription  :  "  [This  horse  belongs  to]  Calpurnia 
Prsetextata,  Abbess  of  the  Vestals.  [This  horse  is]  exempt 
from  compulsory  drafting."  Two  more  such  tablets,  from 
the  stables  of  Flavia  Publicia  and  Sossia,  both  Vestales 
Maximce,  have  been  seen  and  described.  The  one  found  at 


140  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

"  Prata-porcia  "  proves  that  the  farm  belonged  to  the  order, 
unless  it  was  a  private  property  of  Calpurnia. 

In  state  ceremonies,  in  the  most  solemn  civil  or  religious 
meetings,  they  performed  important  duties.  On  June  21, 
A.  D.  71,  when  the  first  stone  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  was 
laid  by  Vespasian  on  the  Capitoline  hill,  the  Vestals  headed 
the  procession,  surrounded  by  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
aristocracy,  and  sprinkled  with  pure  water  the  foundations 
of  the  new  building. 

Wills  of  emperors,  secrets  and  documents  of  state,  were 
intrusted  to  their  care.  Augustus,  a  few  months  before 
his  death,  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  abbess  four  docu- 
ments, namely :  his  will,  the  directions  for  his  funeral,  the 
account  of  his  lif e,  and  a  description  of  the  newly  organized 
Empire. 

In  troubled  times,  in  civil  wars,  in  supreme  emergencies 
of  the  Commonwealth,  they  were  selected  as  ambassadresses, 
and  even  as  umpires,  to  restore  peace  and  tranquillity  be- 
tween the  contending  parties.  During  the  terror  of  Sulla's 
proscriptions  the  life  of  Caesar  was  spared,  thanks  to  the 
powerful  request  of  the  Vestals.  When  Messalina's  infa- 
mies were  discovered  by  Claudius,  Vibidia,  the  venerable 
abbess,  was  asked  to  intercede  in  favor  of  the  profligate 
culprit.  On  the  approach  of  Vespasian's  armies,  Vitellius 
begged  for  a  suspension  of  hostilities ;  the  Vestal  messen- 
gers did  not  succeed  in  stopping  bloodshed,  but  were 
treated  by  the  generals  assembled  in  a  council  of  war  with 
special  marks  of  consideration.  The  same  mission  was  ac- 
complished by  them  under  Didius  Julianus. 

Any  offence  against  their  person  was  punished  with 
death.  Again,  if  a  Vestal  met  by  chance  a  criminal  led  to 
the  scaffold,  he  was  reprieved  at  once.  Their  influence  in 
every  branch  of  state  administration  is  made  evident  by  the 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


141 


legends  engraved  on  the  pedestals  discovered  in  the  Atrium, 
which  are  shown  on  page  134.  They  are  described  in  these 
marbles  as  women  to  whom 
no  request  could  be  denied. 
^Emilius  Pardalus  offered  a 
statue  to  Campia  Severina, 
an  abbess  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, as  a  token  of  gratitude 
for  having  been  knighted. 
Q.  Veturius  Callistratus  was 
made  superintendent  of  the 
imperial  libraries,  on  the  re- 
commendation of  the  same 
lady.  Ulpius  Verus  and 
Aureh'us  Titus  were  made 
captains  of  the  army, 
thanks  to  Flavia  Publicia, 
abbess  A.  D.  247.  It  ap- 
pears from  these  and  other 
instances,  which  it  would 
be  superfluous  to  quote, 
that  all  state  departments, 
including  that  of  war,  were 
to  a  certain  extent  subject 
to  these  virgins. 

The  highest  distinction 
conferred  upon  the  Vestals 
was  the  right  of  interment 
within  the  walls  of  the  city. 

mi  ..  „      .,     .       ,       .  ,  STATUE  OF  FLAVIA  PUBLICIA. 

Ine   site    or    their    burial-      —          , .   .,    ...       ,.,   v^., 

Discovered  in  the  Atrium  of  the  Vestals. 

place   is  unknown ;  it  will 

remain  unknown,  I  presume,  forever.     This  supposition  is 

founded  on  the  following  fact.    Among  the  thirty  thousand 


142  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

inscriptions  discovered  in  Rome  since  the  Renaissance,  only 
one  tombstone  with  the  name  of  a  Vestal  (Clodia,  the  niece 
of  C.  Claudius,  praetor  A.  u.  c.  698)  has  been  found,  and  it 
was  not  found  in  situ.  This  dearth  is  at  least  singular,  as 
the  order  is  known  to  have  flourished  for  more  than  eleven 
centuries.  The  Vestals,  perhaps,  like  the  nuns  and  the 
monks  of  the  present  day,  had  a  common  place  of  rest,  a 
crypt,  a  columbaria,  furnished  with  hundreds  of  loculi. 
What  a  magnificent  event  would  be  the  discovery  of  such 
a  place ! 

I  have  hitherto  described  the  privileges  of  the  Vestals, 
to  prove  how  their  moral,  social,  and  material  condition 
was  far  superior  to  that  of  married  ladies,  of  matrons,  or 
of  maidens,  even  of  the  highest  aristocracy.  And  what 
were  the  duties  and  obligations  imposed  upon  them  in  ex- 
change for  so  many  advantages  ?  Two  only :  to  remain 
pure  for  thirty  years,  and  to  fulfil  the  rules  of  the  order 
with  the  utmost  care.  The  least  deviation  from  the  rules 
was  punished  with  the  rod ;  a  breach  of  the  vows  was 
punished  with  death  by  starvation  and  strangulation. 

Many  and  careful  precautions  were  taken  to  prevent  the 
virgins  from  falling  into  temptation.  No  man  was  allowed 
to  approach  the  temple  of  Vesta  at  night ;  no  man  was 
allowed  to  step  over  the  threshold  of  the  Atrium  upon  any 
pretence.  Even  physicians  were  excluded,  however  urgent 
and  needful  their  presence  might  be.  In  fact,  no  case  of 
sickness  was  permitted  to  develop  itself  within  this  strongly 
protected  citadel  of  chastity.  As  soon  as  the  first  symptom 
of  a  serious  case  of  sickness  made  its  appearance,  the  pa- 
tient was  removed  from  the  Atrium,  and  put  under  the  care 
of  her  parents,  or  else  of  a  distinguished  matron.  The  be- 
havior of  the  attendant  doctors  was  in  each  case  closely 
watched. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  143 

Although  a  place  of  honor  was  reserved  for  them  in 
dramatic,  gladiatorial,  or  racing  performances,  they  were 
not  admitted  to  the  athletic  fights,  lest  perchance  the  sight 
of  those  admirable  plastic  forms  should  cast  a  shade  over  the 
serene  purity  of  their  minds.  Nero,  according  to  Suetonius, 
broke  this  rule,  and  the  Vestals  were  officially  invited  by 
him,  in  his  double  capacity  of  emperor  and  high-priest,  to 
come  and  look  at  the  athletes.  The  excuse  he  gave  for 
this  freak  was  that  the  Grecian  priestesses  of  Ceres  could 
freely  taste  of  this  forbidden  fruit  in  the  Olympian  games. 
We  know  not  whether  Nero's  invitation  was  accepted  or 
refused  by  the  Vestals ;  but  we  do  know,  as  an  actual  fact, 
that  from  the  time  of  Nero  to  the  time  of  Domitian  their 
conduct  did  not  escape  blame  and  suspicion.  But  this  must 
be  considered  as  an  exception,  as  a  passing  shadow  over  the 
brilliant,  pure  fame  of  the  sisterhood. 

The  pontifex  maximus,  to  whose  paternal  care  the  sis- 
terhood was  subject,  kept  a  vigilant  eye  over  it,  watching 
the  slightest  suspicious  sign.  Every  detail  of  their  life  was 
reported  to  him  by  secret  informers,  chosen  evidently  among 
the  female  servants  of  the  house.  The  Vestal  Minucia  was 
denounced  to  the  pontiff  (329  B.  c.)  by  one  of  these  spies, 
because  she  had  been  noticed  to  have  a  special  regard  for 
her  personal  appearance,  propter  mundiorem  justo  cultum. 

One  door  only  seems  to  have  been  left  open  to  attack, 
—  the  door  which  afforded  direct  communication  between 
the  house  of  the  Vestals  and  the  house  of  the  high-priests 
themselves.  Through  this  opening  the  enemy  appears,  at 
very  rare  intervals,  to  have  entered  and  stormed  the  place. 

The  fall  of  a  Vestal  was  regarded  as  incest.  The  ex- 
piation was  terrible.  The  unfortunate  girl,  as  soon  as 
the  trial  was  over  and  the  condemnation  pronounced,  was 
divested  of  the  distinctive  garments  of  the  order,  and 


144  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

flogged  by  the  judges  themselves.  Then  the  funeral  pro- 
cession was  organized.  The  culprit,  covered  by  a  pall  and 
lying  in  the  hearse,  was  brought  through  the  Forum,  the 
Long  Street  ( Vicus  longus),  and  the  High  Street  (Alia 
Semita),  to  the  Porta  Collina,1  amidst  the  mourning  and 
dejected  crowd  of  her  friends  and  relatives.  Let  us  quote 
the  thrilling  account  of  an  execution  given  by  Plutarch : 
"  The  Vestal  convicted  of  incest  is  buried  alive  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Porta  Collina,  under  the  Agger  of 
Servius  Tullius.  Here  is  a  crypt,  small  in  size,  with  an 
opening  in  the  vault,  through  which  the  ladder  is  lowered ; 
it  is  furnished  with  a  bed,  an  oil  lamp,  and  a  few  scanty 
provisions,  such  as  bread,  water,  milk,  and  oil.  These  pro- 
visions (in  fact,  a  refinement  of  cruelty)  are  prepared  because 
it  would  appear  a  sacrilege  to  condemn  to  starvation  women 
formerly  consecrated  to  the  gods.  The  unfortunate  culprit  is 
brought  here  in  a  covered  hearse,  to  which  she  is  tied  with 
leather  straps,  so  that  it  is  impossible  that  her  sighs  and 
lamentations  should  be  heard  by  the  attendant  mourners. 
The  crowd  opens  silently  for  the  passage  of  the  hearse ;  not 
a  word  is  pronounced,  not  a  murmur  is  heard.  Tears  stream 
from  the  eyes  of  every  spectator.  It  is  impossible  to  imag- 
ine a  more  horrible  sight ;  the  whole  city  is  shaken  with 
terror  and  sorrow.  The  hearse  being  brought  to  the  edge 
of  the  opening,  the  executioner  cuts  the  bands,  and  the 
high-priest  mutters  an  inaudible  prayer,  and  lifts  up  his 
arms  towards  the  gods,  before  bidding  the  culprit  good- 
bye. He  follows  and  assists  her  to  the  top  of  the  ladder, 
and  turns  back  at  the  fatal  instant  of  her  disappearance. 
As  soon  as  she  reaches  the  bottom,  the  ladder  is  removed, 

1  This  gate  was  discovered  in  1872,     not  far   from  the  Porta  Pia  and  the 
under    the    northeast    corner   of    the     English  Embassy. 
Palazzo  del  Ministero  delle  Finanze, 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


145 


the  opening  is  sealed,  and  a  large  mass  of  earth  is  heaped 
upon  the  stone  that  seals  it,  until  the  top  of  the  embank- 
ment is  reached,  and  every  trace  of  the  execution  made  to 
disappear." 

The  exact  spot  of  the  crypt  is  described  by  Livy,  near 


Plan  of  the  Porta  Collina. 

the  gate  (ad  portam  Collinarri}  on  the  paved  road  on  the 
right  (dextra  ma  strata),  and  the  place  was  called  Cam- 
pus  Sceleratus.  Comparing  these  precise  indications  with 
the  present  state  of  that  quarter,  the  crypt  must  lie  under 
the  street  named  Via  Goito,  within  a  radius  of  some  fifty 
yards  from  the  east  door  of  the  Palazzo  delle  Finanze. 

How  many  touching  inspirations  this  sad  end  of  the 
fallen  Vestal  has  suggested  to  the  poet,  to  the  artist !  I 
believe,  however,  that  no  creation  of  the  pencil  or  of  the 


146  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

lyric  pen  can  be  compared  with  the  splendid  letter  ad- 
dressed by  Pliny  to  Minucianus  (IV.  11),  in  which  he 
describes  the  last  moments  of  one  of  Domitian's  victims. 
This  tyrant  was  determined  to  make  his  reign  illustrious 
by  the  sacrifice  of  a  Vestal.  He  found  an  accomplice 
named  Celer,  who  impudently  confessed  a  pretended  crime 
with  Cornelia,  the  very  abbess  of  the  Atrium.  Whether 
there  was  any  foundation  for  such  an  abominable  accusa- 
tion, one  thing  is  certain :  the  trial  directed  and  pre- 
sided over  by  Domitian  was  just  as  great  a  crime  as  that 
imputed  to  Cornelia.  The  judges  were  not  summoned  to 
the  Regia,  the  official  seat  of  the  ecclesiastical  court  of 
law,  but  to  Domitian's  private  grounds  at  Albanum ;  and 
here  the  unfortunate  abbess,  without  being  heard,  without 
being  allowed  to  exculpate  herself,  was  sentenced  to  death. 
"  The  priests  and  the  executioner  were  despatched  in  great 
haste  to  drag  their  victim  to  the  Campus  Sceleratus. 
Raising  her  hands  to  Vesta  and  the  immortal  gods,  she 
protested  her  innocence,  and  kept  exclaiming,  '  The  em- 
peror declares  me  guilty  of  incest,  knowing  that  my 
prayers  alone  have  given  him  victory,  triumph,  and  an 
immortal  name  ! '  I  do  not  know  whether  this  was  said 
sincerely  or  ironically;  to  mitigate  the  fury  of  the  tyrant 
or  to  ridicule  and  abuse  him.  At  any  rate,  she  was  heard 
repeating  these  words  until  she  reached  the  fatal  spot.  In 
descending  the  ladder,  the  folds  of  her  veil  being  caught 
somewhere,  she  stepped  back  to  adjust  it ;  and  as  the  exe- 
cutioner offered  her  the  help  of  his  hand,  and  attempted 
to  escort  her  down,  she  was  horrified,  and  shrank  from  his 
impure  contact.  She  met  her  fate,  certainly,  as  the  purest 
and  noblest  of  women."  The  fate  of  the  accomplice  was 
not  less  cruel.  According  to  the  ancient  custom,  he  was 
flogged  to  death  in  the  Comitium,  a  small  square  between 
the  Forum  and  the  Senate-Hall. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  147 

We  come  now  to  a  rather  difficult  and  mysterious  point 
of  inquiry :  we  must  discover  the  secret  of  the  order ;  we 
must  find  out  what  were  the  sacred  tokens  of  the  Roman 
Commonwealth  intrusted  to  the  care  of  the  Vestals.  Within 
the  sacred  enclosure  there  was  an  innermost  sanctuary,  in 
which  some  wonderful  relics  were  concealed.  According  to 
the  general  belief,  the  safety,  the  prosperity  of  the  Empire, 
depended  upon  the  preservation  of  these  relics  ;  but  nobody 
knows  what  they  were.  One  of  the  most  learned  men 
of  the  present  age,  Francesco  Cancellieri,  has  published  a 
volume  on  the  subject,  entitled  "  Le  Sette  Cose  Fatali  di 
Roma  Antica,"  but  in  spite  of  his  prodigious  erudition  Can- 
cellieri has  not  solved  the  mystery.  He  depends  entirely 
upon  the  well-known  words  of  Servius  (^En.,  vii.  188)  : 
"  There  were  seven  pledges  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  namely  :  the  meteoric  stone  from  Pessinus ;  *  the 
terra-cotta  quadriga  from  Veii ;  the  ashes  of  Orestes ;  the 
sceptre  of  Priam  ;  the  veil  of  Iliona ;  the  Palladium ;  the 
shields  named  Ancilia"  t  Surely  all  this  trash  was  not 
kept  by  the  Vestals.  Ancient  writers  use  the  general  and 
indefinite  expression  sacra  qucedam,  or  sacra  fatalia, 
"  some  sacred  things,"  "  some  fatal  things,"  and  when  they 
specify  they  only  mention  the  Palladium.  Cicero  distinctly 
affirms  that  "  in  Vesta's  penetralia  is  kept  the  statue  fallen 
from  heaven,"  and  nothing  else. 

When  the  Atrium  was  burned  down,  in  the  great  confla- 
gration of  191,  described  by  Herodianus,  the  Vestals  fled 
to  the  Palatine  across  the  Sacra  Via,  carrying  with  them, 
of  course,  the  mysterious  relics.  "  On  this  occasion," 
the  historian  says,  "  the  Palladium  was  seen  for  the  first 
time  by  profane  eyes."  Of  one  particular  we  are  sure  : 

1  Worshipped  by  the  Romans  under  the  name  of  "  Great  Mother  of  the 
Gods."  See  page  126 


148  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

these  things  were  of  small  size,  and  could  be  con- 
cealed inside  a  terra-cotta  jar.  When  the  Gauls  stormed 
Rome,  in  364  B.  c.,  the  Vestals,  before  escaping  to  Veii, 
buried  between  the  Cloaca  Maxima  and  the  house  of  the 
Flamen  Quirinalis,  a  jug  containing  the  relics.  Hence 
the  name  of  the  spot,  Doliola  ;  and  hence  the  superstition 
which  forbade  any  one  spitting  upon  it.  The  same  feeling 
of  curiosity  which  impels  us  to  inquire  into  this  subject 
scientifically  was  the  cause  of  one  of  the  most  daring  at- 
tempts against  the  privileges  of  the  Vestals.  The  author 
of  it  was  Helagabalus,  and  it  is  described  by  his  biogra- 
pher, Lampridius. 

Let  us  follow  the  mad  prince  into  the  Atrium ;  let  us 
share  with  him  the  sacrilege  ;  violence  may  help  us  more 
than  science,  perhaps,  to  solve  the  problem. 

"  Helagabalus  "  (I  quote  the  words  of  the  historian)  "  was 
determined  to  substitute  by  main  force  the  worship  of  his 
own  god,  Helagabalus,  for  that  of  Roman  gods.  Vesta 
was  not  spared  in  the  persecution,  and  he  tried  repeatedly 
to  extinguish  the  perpetual  fire.  Disappointed  in  his  at- 
tempts, he  resorted  to  violence.  Contaminated  as  he  was 
with  every  excess  of  immorality,  he  broke  into  the  inner- 
most sanctuary  of  the  convent  penetralia,  the  approach  to 
which  is  permitted  only  to  the  Vestals  and  to  the  high- 
priests,  and  actually  stole  the  jar  containing  (as  he  was  led 
to  believe)  the  pledges  of  the  Empire.  Finding  it  empty, 
he  smashed  it  to  pieces.  Religion,  however,  lost  nothing 
from  the  sacrilege,  because  many  such  jars  are  kept  in  the 
sanctuary,  and  nobody  knows  which  is  the  right  one.  After 
renewed  attempts,  he  finally  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
Palladium,  and  placed  it  in  his  own  temple,  fastened  with 
chains  of  gold." 

The  account  of  Lampridius  is  rather  obscure.     At  any 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


149 


rate,  if  the  real  Palladium  (the  only  relic  mentioned  by  him) 
was  actually  stolen,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  successor  of 
the  crazy  prince  must  have  restored  it  to  its  legitimate 
keepers. 

When  the  Atrium  was  discovered,  in  December,  1883, 
we  had  a  faint  hope  of  tracing  the  exact  place  of  the  pene- 
tralia ;  but  the  hope  was  to  a  certain  extent  frustrated.  In 
the  very  centre  of  the  cloisters  we  came  upon  the  founda- 
tions of  an  octagonal  shrine,  purposely  and  deliberately 
destroyed  to  the  level  of  the  ground. 


Foundation  of  the  Shrine  in  which  the  Palladium  was  kept. 

As  the  house  itself  stands  in  a  tolerably  good  state  of 
preservation,  and  still  contains  many  valuable  works  of  art, 
who  could  have  taken  such  a  special  interest  in  the  dis- 
appearance of  this  central  shrine  ?  Not  the  men  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  certainly  :  they  knew  little  about  the  Vestals, 
nothing  about  the  penetralia  and  its  relics  ;  there  was  no 
reason,  besides,  why  they  should  destroy  the  shrine,  built  of 
bricks  as  it  was,  more  than  other,  richer  portions  of  the 
house,  which  were  left  undisturbed.  We  believe  that  the 
destruction  of  this  innermost  sanctuary  was  accomplished 


150  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

by  the  Vestals  themselves  in  the  last  days  preceding  their 
banishment  from  the  cloisters  and  the  suppression  of  their 
order  (A.  D.  394) ;  we  believe  the  secret  to  have  been  buried 
with  the  last  Vestal. 

PLAN    AND    DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    ATRIUM. 

The  house  of  the  Vestals  is  a  rectangular  building, 
345  feet  long  and  171  feet  wide,  bounded  by  public  streets 
on  every  side.  The  street  skirting  the  house  on  the  east, 
along  the  Porticus  Margaritaria,  is  the  famous  Sacra 
Via  ;  the  one  on  the  west  side  is  the  not  less  famous  Nova 
Via  ;  the  name  of  that  on  the  south  is  unknown ;  the  name 
of  that  on  the  north  has  been  quite  recently  discovered 
under  the  following  curious  circumstances.  The  architects 
of  the  basilica  of  S.  Paul-outside-the-walls,  in  digging  the 
foundations  of  the  portico  in  front  of  the  basilica  itself, 
found  at  a  considerable  depth  many  Christian  tombs  of 
the  sixth  century,  made  up  of  every  kind  of  material,  and 
particularly  of  slabs  and  blocks  of  marble  removed  from 
older  buildings. 

One  of  these  slabs,  discovered  in  1878,  contained  the 
following  inscription  :  — 

"  Under  the  consulship  of  L.  Marius  Maximus  and  of  L. 
Roscius  ^Elianus  "  (A.  D.  223),  "  the  shrine  or  chapel  which 
stood  at  the  corner  of  the  street  of  Vesta,  and  which  had 
been  allowed  to  fall  almost  into  ruin,  has  been  rebuilt  by 
the  magistrates  of  the  (ward  or)  district,  and  dedicated  to 
the  domestic  gods  of  the  imperial  family,  and  to  the  Genius 
of  our  emperor,  Severus  Alexander,  the  Pious,  the  Fortu- 
nate," etc.,  etc. 

Six  years  later,  in  the  spring  of  1882,  not  only  did  we 
succeed  in  laying  bare  the  pavement  of  the  lane  running 
between  the  temple  of  the  Dioscuri  and  the  north  side  of 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  151 

the  house  of  the  Vestals,  which  evidently  must  be  the  one 
mentioned  in  the  inscription,  but  we  brought  to  light  the 
very  shrine  or  chapel  to  which  the  marble  slab  above  de- 
scribed was  originally  affixed.  This  shrine  is  a  bijou  of 
Greco-Roman  architecture ;  and  although  its  various  mem- 
bers and  marble  decorations  lay  scattered  far  and  wide,  all 
over  the  valley  of  the  Forum,  we  have  picked  them  out  one 
by  one,  and  expect  to  restore  them  soon  to  their  proper 
places,  and  to  reconstruct  the  whole  shrine. 

Many  of  my  readers  may  have  been  struck  by  the  re- 
markable instance,  which  I  have  quoted,  of  a  marble  slab  of 
great  dimensions,  removed  from  the  Roman  Forum  in  the 
sixth  century  after  Christ,  —  that  is  to  say,  at  a  period  in 
which  old  imperial  Rome  had  still  a  certain  amount  of 
vitality  left,  —  and  employed  by  an  obscure  Christian  as  a 
cover  to  a  humble  tomb,  fully  three  miles  distant  from  the 
Forum.  This  instance  is  by  no  means  remarkable  or  extraor- 
dinary ;  the  amount  of  dispersion  which  the  inscribed  marbles 
and  stones  of  Rome  have  undergone  is  simply  wonderful. 
This  is  the  reason  which  impels  us  to  be  always  exceedingly 
careful  in  drawing  conclusions  from  the  discovery  of  an  in- 
scription. Unless  found  in  its  original  place,  or  unless  we 
can  prove  beyond  doubt,  by  other  means  of  comparison,  that 
although  somehow  out  of  place,  it  belongs  to  the  building 
among  the  ruins  of  which  it  happens  to  be  brought  to  light, 
an  inscription  has  no  topographical  value.  I  shall  explain 
better  this  important  rule  in  the  study  of  Roman  topogra- 
phy by  instancing  one  or  two  cases,  which  prove  how  easily 
one  can  be  misled  in  this  branch  of  archaeological  research 
by  trusting  too  confidently  to  appearances. 

Not  many  years  ago,  the  old  marble  pavement  of  the 
church  of  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere  was  demolished,  in  order 
that  a  mosaic  one  might  be  substituted  in  its  place.  It  was 


152  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

ascertained,  in  the  progress  of  the  work,  that  nearly  one 
fifth  of  the  marble  slabs  with  which  the  old  floor  was 
paved  were  nothing  but  ancient  inscriptions  laid  upside 
down ;  that  is  to  say,  with  the  letters  embedded  in  ce- 
ment, and  the  plain  back  exposed  to  view.  One  of  these 
epigraphic  fragments  of  a  monumental  character  spoke  of  a 
forum  built,  or  rather  reconstructed,  by  the  emperors  Valens 
and  Gratianus,  for  the  benefit  of  the  citizens  of  Rome.  The 
discovery  led  some  to  believe  that  in  ancient  times  there 
must  have  been  a  forum  or  square  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  church  of  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  within  the  limits  of 
the  fourteenth  ward  or  region,  and  that  this  forum  must 
have  been  restored  in  the  fifth  century  by  the  emperors 
above  named.  The  deduction  was  utterly  groundless :  the 
monumental  inscription  set  in  the  pavement  of  the  church 
had  travelled  all  the  way  down  from  the  Esquiline  hill,  a 
distance  of  about  two  miles ;  it  had  been  seen  and  copied  in 
its  original  place,  near  the  church  of  S.  Vito,  by  the  so-called 
"  Anonymus  "  of  Einsiedlen,  eleven  centuries  before.  This 
copy  enables  us  to  fill  up  the  lacunae  in  the  fragments  dug 
up  at  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  and  shows  that  the  forum  in 
question  was  officially  called  Forum  Esquilinum,  the  square 
of  the  Esquiline,  and  at  the  same  time  Macellum  LiviaB,  the 
market  of  Livia. 

Not  less  extraordinary  in  this  respect  is  the  discovery  of 
the  fragments  of  the  actafratrum  Arvalium  (annals  of  the 
Fratres  Arvales),  a  brotherhood  which  closely  resembled,  in 
organization  and  in  religious  character,  the  sisterhood  of 
the  Vestals.  From  fragments  of  the  annals  discovered,  we 
know  not  where,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  it  was  evident  that 
the  Arvales  held  their  meetings  in  a  wood  five  miles  dis- 
tant from  Rome,  and  worshipped  in  a  temple  dedicated  to 
the  dea  Dia  ;  but  where  the  temple  stood,  and  how  far  and 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  153 

in  what  direction  the  adjoining  woods  extended,  it  was  im- 
possible to  ascertain.  Many  more  fragments  of  the  annals, 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  marble  slabs  on  which  they  are  en- 
graved, have  come  to  light  during  the  last  three  centuries, 
but  from  such  widely  separated,  out-of-the-way,  incongruous 
places  that  the  problem  was  considered,  until  late  years,  as 
utterly  insoluble.  Some  have  been  found  in  the  founda- 
tion of  the  sacristy  of  S.  Peter's,  some  in  the  catacombs 
of  S.  Agnes  on  the  Via  Nomentana,  some  on  the  Esquiline, 
some  under  the  foundations  of  a  house  near  the  Jewish 
quarter,  some  on  the  road  to  Fiumicino,  five  miles  and  a 
quarter  outside  the  Porta  Portese.  This  last  place,  the  fifth 
mile  -  stone  of  the  ancient  Via  Campana,  has  been  finally 
ascertained  to  be  the  true  one.  The  magnificent  work 
of  exploration  carried  on  in  this  spot  for  two  consecutive 
years  by  the  late  Dr.  Wilhelm  Henzen,  under  the  au- 
spices and  with  the  help  of  Empress  Augusta  of  Germany, 
brought  to  light  not  only  the  remains  of  the  temple  of 
the  dea  Diet,  the  place  of  worship  of  the  Arvales,  but  also 
their  banqueting-hall,  called  the  tetrastylum,  and  about  one 
thousand  lines  of  the  annals,  or  yearly  records  of  the 
brotherhood.  After  the  instances  I  have  related,  which  I 
could  multiply  ad  libitum,  we  shall  not  wonder  any  more 
at  the  curious  fate  of  the  Farnese  Hercules,  that  colossal 
masterpiece  of  Greco-Roman  sculpture,  now  in  the  Museo 
Nazionale  in  Naples,  the  torso  of  which  was  discovered  in 
the  baths  of  Caracalla,  the  head  at  the  bottom  of  a  well  in 
Trastevere,  the  legs  in  the  farm  of  "  le  Frattocchie,"  ten 
miles  from  Rome.  At  all  events,  these  instances  of  disper- 
sions of  ancient  marbles  in  Rome  and  its  suburbs  will  not 
surprise  any  one  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  decline 
and  faU  of  the  city,  and  of  its  subsequent  vicissitudes  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  even  in  modern  times.  As  Thomas 


154  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

Dyer  remarks  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  his  History : 
"  To  the  use  and  abuse  of  building  and  ornamental  mate- 
rials the  destruction  of  the  Roman  monuments  must  prin- 
cipally be  referred.  .  .  .  The  process  of  spoliation,  con- 
version, and  destruction  was  pursued  by  the  emperors,  by 
the  popes,  by  noblemen  and  prelates,  and  by  private  indi- 
viduals. .  .  .  The  Romans  were  thus  the  principal  demol- 
ishers  of  their  own  city." 

If  it  were  in  our  power  to  snatch  the  secret  of  the  origin 
and  former  purpose  and  use  of  the  marbles,  stones,  and 
bricks  with  which  our  palaces,  our  cloisters,  and  our  villas 
have  been  built  and  embellished,  or  to  recall  to  life  the 
masterpieces  of  Greek  and  Roman  statuary,  hammered  and 
ground  into  dust  or  burnt  into  lime,  our  knowledge  of  the 
city  of  the  Csesars  would  be  almost  perfect.  The  rebuild- 
ing of  S.  Peter's  alone,  from  the  pontificate  of  Martin  V. 
to  that  of  Pius  VII.,  caused  more  destruction,  did  more  in- 
jury to  ancient  classic  remains,  than  ten  centuries  of  so- 
called  barbarism.  Of  the  huge  and  almost  incredible  mass 
of  marbles,  of  every  nature,  color,  value,  and  description, 
used  in  building  S.  Peter's,  until  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  not  an  inch,  not  an  atom,  comes  from  mod- 
ern quarries ; l  they  were  all  removed  from  classic  build- 
ings, many  of  which  were  levelled  to  the  ground  for  the 
sake  of  one  or  two  pieces  only. 

In  order  not  to  wander  too  far  from  the  main  subject,  I 
will  cite  one  item  only  of  these  annals  of  destruction :  I 
will  mention  what  happened  in  the  valley  of  the  Forum 
between  1540  and  1549.  In  less  than  ten  years'  time,  the 
men  employed  by  the  contractors  of  S.  Peter's  to  search  for 
building  materials  crossed  the  valley  of  the  Forum  from  end 

1  Exception  must  be  made  in  the  marble,  which  were  quarried  near 
case  of  the  few  columns  of  cottanello  Moricone,  Sabina. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  155 

to  end,  like  an  appalling  meteor,  destroying,  dismantling, 
splitting  into  fragments,  burning  into  lime,  the  temples, 
the  arches,  the  basilicas  most  famous  in  Roman  history,  in 
the  history  of  the  Old  World,  together  with  the  inscrip- 
tions which  indicated  their  former  use  or  design,  and  the 
statues  and  bas-reliefs  which  ornamented  them.  In  1540 
the  podium,  steps,  and  pediment  of  the  temple  of  Anto- 
ninus and  Faustina  were  removed  to  S.  Peter's  or  other- 
wise made  use  of.  Between  1541  and  1545  the  same 
fate  befell  the  triumphal  arch  raised  in  honor  of  Fabius 
Maximus,  the  conqueror  of  Savoy ;  the  triumphal  arch 
raised  in  honor  of  Augustus  after  the  battle  of  Actium; 
the  temple  of  Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius ;  and  a  portion  of 
the  Cloaca  Maxima.  In  1546  the  temple  of  Julius  Caesar 
was  levelled  to  the  ground,  together  with  the  Fasti  Consu- 
lares  and  Triumphales  engraved  on  its  marble  basement ;  in 
1547  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  was  dismantled ;  in 
1549  the  temple  of  Vesta,  the  temple  of  Augustus,  and  the 
shrine  of  Vortumnus. 

I  have  not  mentioned  this  sad  page  of  the  history  of 
Roman  monuments  to  vituperate  or  condemn  to  excess 
the  memory  of  the  authors  of  so  great  a  destruction,  — 
popes,  princes,  artists,  who,  after  all,  in  lieu  of  the  ruins 
destroyed  by  them,  raised  and  left  to  us  monuments  and 
edifices  which,  in  beauty  and  perfection,  will  bear  com- 
parison with  the  old  ones.  I  have  mentioned  the  sub- 
ject because  it  strikes  me  as  one  of  the  most  curious 
and  inexplicable  problems  in  the  history  of  art,  —  the 
fact  that  the  great  masters  of  the  Renaissance  and  the 
cinquecento,  ardent  admirers  as  they  were  of  ancient  ar- 
chitectural and  plastic  works,  should  have  taken  willingly 
their  share  in  that  abominable  crusade.  One  must  exa- 
mine carefully,  sheet  by  sheet,  the  note-books  and  studies 


156  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

left  by  such  men  as  Michael  Angelo,  Baldassarre  Peruzzi, 
Salvestro  Peruzzi,  Antonio  di  Sangallo,  Sangallo  il  Gobbo, 
Bramante  Lazzari,  Antonio  Dosio,  Piero  Santo  Bartoli, 
Giovanni  da  Udine,  as  I  have  done  myself,  to  get  the  true 
idea,  to  fathom  with  the  right  line  their  immense  love 
and  admiration  for  ancient  art.  Even  the  most  obscure 
and  uninteresting  bits  and  fragments  of  mouldings  were 
taken  up  by  them  as  subjects  of  study  and  investigation. 
However,  all  this  love,  all  this  admiration,  was  purely 
platonic  and  material :  they  all  considered  ancient  remains 
and  architectural  masterpieces  not  as  things  of  beauty  in 
themselves,  worth  being  respected  and  cared  for,  as  we  do 
now ;  they  looked  upon  them  as  a  simple  means  of  learning 
art,  and  of  perfecting  themselves  in  the  practice  of  their 
profession.  When  they  had  got  from  the  original  all  the 
advantage  which  they  thought  it  capable  of  affording,  they 
abandoned  it  to  its  fate,  as  an  altogether  useless  thing. 

I  am  sure  that  if  I  were  to  make  up  my  mind  to  pub- 
lish the  documents  which  I  have  collected  by  thousands, 
on  the  share  which  every  one  of  the  great  cinquecento 
masters  took  in  the  destruction  of  ancient  Rome,  my  book 
would  be  read  and  regarded  as  a  startling  revelation. 
They  all  shared  in  the  sacrilege.  Let  me  quote  a  few 
instances.  The  pedestal  of  the  equestrian  statue  of  M. 
Aurelius  on  the  Capitol  was  cut  by  Michael  Angelo  out 
of  one  of  the  columns  belonging  to  the  temple  of  Castor 
and  Pollux  ;  another  fragment  of  the  same  columns  was 
transformed  by  Raphael  and  Lorenzetto  into  the  admirable 
statue  of  Jonah  in  the  Chigi  chapel  in  the  church  of  S.  Maria 
del  Popolo.  The  coat  of  arms  of  Pius  IV.,  on  the  top  of 
the  Porta  Pia,  was  cut  by  the  same  Michael  Angelo  out  of 
a  marble  capital  of  colossal  size,  discovered  under  the  pal- 
ace of  Piero  della  Valle.  The  temple  of  the  Sun,  on  the 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  157 

Quirinal,  furnished  the  materials  for  the  Cesi  chapel  in  S. 
Maria  Maggiore,  for  the  fountain  of  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,1 
for  the  fountain  in  the  Piazza  Giudea,  for  the  Pope's  palace 
on  the  Quirinal,  and  so  forth.  The  materials  for  the  church 
of  S.  Maria  dell'  Anima  and  for  some  portions  of  the  Villa 
Medici  were  quarried  from  the  ruins  of  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Capitolinus ;  those  for  the  Sixtine  chapel,  in  the 
Vatican,  from  Hadrian's  mausoleum.  The  columns  of  verde 
antico  which  adorn  the  Farnese  palace  and  the  villa  of 
Julius  III.,  on  the  Via  Flaminia,  come  from  Zenobia's  bath- 
house, at  the  sulphur  springs  near  Tivoli.  The  house  of 
Lorenzo  Bernini,  near  S.  Andrea  delle  Fratte,  is  built  with 
the  materials  of  the  baths  of  Licinius  Sura,  on  the  Aven- 
tine. 

Strange  to  say,  even  the  work  of  restoration  and  pres- 
ervation of  ancient  monuments  was  accompanied  with  de- 
struction :  one  monument  paid  the  ransom  for  another. 
Thus,  for  instance,  the  obelisk  raised  by  Augustus  as  a 
sun-dial,  in  the  Campus  Martius,  was  restored  by  Innocent 
XII.  with  the  granite  of  the  monumental  column  of  An- 
toninus Pius,  discovered  in  the  garden  of  the  "  Casa  della 
Missione."  Thus,  also,  the  arch  of  Constantine  was  re- 
stored by  Clement  XII.  with  the  large  blocks  of  marble 
belonging  to  the  temple  of  Neptune,  near  the  Pantheon. 
The  Pantheon  itself,  or  rather  its  portico,  was  restored  by 
Alexander  VII.  with  columns  from  the  baths  of  Severus 
Alexander,  and  with  marbles  from  a  triumphal  arch  called 
in  the  Middle  Ages  the  "  arch  of  Piety." 

There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  Romans  have  done 
more  harm  to  their  own  city  than  all  invading  hosts  put 
together.  The  action  of  centuries  and  of  natural  phenom- 
ena, such  as  hurricanes,  earthquakes,  fires,  and  inundations, 

1  Now  in  the  public  gardens  on  the  Janiculum. 


158  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

could  not  have  accomplished  what  men  have,  willingly 
and  deliberately.  As  regards  the  barbarians,  the  damage 
inflicted  by  them  to  our  monuments  is  comparatively  small, 
because  they  had  at  their  disposal  less  powerful  means  of 
destruction.  We  know  that  the  gardens  and  palace  of 
Sallust  were  destroyed  by  Alaric ;  that  the  bronze  roof 
of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  was  dismantled  by 
Genseric ;  that  the  aqueducts  were  cut  down  by  Vitiges. 
These  deeds,  however,  are  nothing  in  comparison  with  the 
robberies  and  spoliations  committed  by  the  Emperor  Con- 
stans  during  his  short  visit  to  the  Eternal  City  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  663.  For  many  centuries  private  individuals 
had  an  unrestricted  right  over  the  ruins  existing  in  their  own 
lands ;  and  when,  finally,  state  or  municipal  authorities  de- 
termined to  take  or  to  show  an  interest  in  this  matter,  their 
actions  were  inspired,  not  by  love  of  art,  but  by  material 
and  pecuniary  considerations.  The  apostolic  chamber,  or 
treasury,  would  sell  this  or  that  ruin  as  a  quarry  (petraia\ 
reserving  to  itself  thirty-three  per  cent,  of  the  product  of 
the  work  of  destruction.  An  official  document,  discovered 
by  Eugene  Miintz  in  the  state  archives  of  Rome,  certifies 
that  in  the  year  1452  one  of  the  treasury  contractors, 
named  Giovanni  Foglia,  from  Como,  removed  from  the 
Colosseum  alone  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-two 
cart-loads  of  travertine ! 

But  it  is  time  that  I  should  come  back  to  the  house 
of  the  Vestals,  and  to  the  description  of  its  different 
apartments.  In  order  to  obtain  the  necessary  degree  of 
clearness,  I  will  lay  before  the  eyes  of  the  reader  a  map 
of  the  house,  and  lead  him,  as  it  were,  by  the  hand  during 
the  interesting  excursion. 

The  extensive  building,  covering  an  area  of  58,995  square 
feet,  has  but  one  entrance,  that  marked  with  the  letter  A. 


3 


s 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


159 


Here  began,  in  ancient  times,  the  monastic  clausura.  Next 
to  it,  on  the  right,  are  to  be  seen  (B)  the  remains  of  the 
shrine  restored  under  Severus  Alexander,  a  description  of 
which  has  been  given  above. 

The  foundations  of  the  round  temple  of  Vesta  are  marked 
C.  This  lovely  structure,  rebuilt  for  the  last  tune  by  Julia 
Domna,  after  the  great  fire  of  Commodus,  was  discovered 
first  in  1489,  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation.  Re- 
discovered in  1549,  it  was  completely  demolished,  and 
levelled  to  the  ground.  Only  thirty-six  marble  fragments 
belonging  to  its  architecture  by  a  great  chance  escaped 
destruction.  These  were  found  by  us  in  1883  scattered 
far  and  wide.  With  their  help  we  have  been  able  to  re- 
construct most  carefully  the  architecture  of  the  temple, 
as  shown  in  the  following  cuts. 


The  Temple  of  Vesta. 


D.  Three  marble  pedestals,  dedicated  one,  A.  D.  364,  to 
an  abbess  whose  memory  was  afterwards  condemned  (see 
page  170) ;  the  second,  A.  D.  286,  to  Coelia  Claudiana ;  the 


160 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


third,  A.  D.  247,  to  Flavia  Publicia.  These  three  pedestals 
are  not  in  their  original  places ;  they  were  put  here  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  built  into  the  foundations  of  a  small 

house  belonging  to  an  offi- 
cer of  Pope  Marinus  II., 
whose  name  is  not  known. 
We  have  been  able  to  as- 
certain this  fact  from  the 
discovery  of  a  small  terra- 
cotta jar  buried  under  the 
pavement  of  the  house,  con- 
taining, first,  the  insignia  of 
the  officer,  in  niello  work, 
with  the  legend  DOMNO 
MARINO  PAPA;  sec- 
ondly, a  collection  of  835 
coins,  one  of  gold,  the 
others  of  silver.  The  gold 
coin  is  of  Theophilus,  em- 
peror between  829  and  842. 
All  but  four  of  the  silver 
coins  are  Anglo-Saxon.  Fol- 


Capital  from  the  Temple  of  Vesta. 

lowing  is  the  catalogue  of  them  :  — 

Alfred  the  Great 

Edward  the  First 

Athelstan  .... 

Edmund  the  First 

Sitric,  King  of  Northumbria 

Anlaf,  King  of  Northumbria 

Plegmund,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 

Mint  of  Pavia     .... 

Mint  of  Limoges 

Mint  of  Ratisbon 

Uncertain  ..... 


3 

217 

393 

195 

1 

6 

4 

2 

1 

1 

11 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  161 

The  remains  of  the  mediaeval  house  were  unwisely  de- 
stroyed in  the  course  of  the  recent  excavations. 

We  have  now  entered  the  cloisters,  the  Atrium  itself,  the 
size  of  which  is  so  extraordinary  hi  comparison  to  that  of  the 
house  that  it  is  no  wonder  the  whole  building  was  named 
from  it.  We  find  in  the  plan  of  the  building  itself  the  pro- 
totype of  all  the  convents  and  nunneries  of  the  world,  the 
characteristics  of  which  are  a  large  court-yard  surrounded 
with  porticoes,  both  necessary  to  give  air,  light,  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  little  exercise  to  women  condemned  for  life  to 
almost  solitary  confinement.  The  portico  surrounding  this 
Atrium  Vestse  was  ornamented  with  columns  of  cipollino 
on  the  ground  floor,  with  columns  of  breccia  corallina  on 
the  floor  above.  Near  the  southern  extremity  of  the  court 
there  is  a  basin,  or  tank,  for  the  supply  of  water,  which  the 
Vestals  drew  from  one  of  the  neighboring  sacred  springs, 
as  the  use  of  water  running  through  pipes  was  against  the 
rules  of  the  order.  The  basin  is  marked  with  the  letter  F. 

G.  Tdblinum,  state,  or  reception  hall  of  the  Vestals,  with 
traces  of  marble  pavement  and  marble  incrustations.  Six 
small  rooms  open  on  this  apartment,  three  on  each  side,  the 
pavements  of  which  are  raised  in  a  peculiar  way  to  avoid 
dampness,  namely,  by  laying  the  new  floor  on  half  am- 
phorae, through  the  interstices  of  which  the  dry  air  could 
circulate. 

H.  A  small  court-yard  containing  the  furnaces  for  the 
heating  of  the  whole  house. 

I.  A  mill  used  by  the  Vestals  to  grind  meal,  with  which 
the  mola  salsa  (the  most  primitive  kind  of  a  cake)  was 
prepared  on  February  15th  of  each  year,  during  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lupercalia. 

K.  Small  staircase  leading  to  bedrooms  on  upper  floor. 
Remains  of  these  bedrooms  have  been  found  only  on  the 


162  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

west  side ;  that  is  to  say,  on  the  side  facing  the  Nova  Via. 
These  cells  are  exceedingly  small  and  simple,  and  are  sepa- 
rated from  the  bath-room  which  belongs  to  them  by  a  small 
corridor. 

Apartments  not  marked  on  the  plan  have  not  been 
identified. 

LAST    DAYS    OF    THE    VESTAL  VIRGINS. 

The  second  half  of  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  was  one 
of  the  most  exciting  periods  in  Roman  history,  on  account 
of  the  stupendous  fight  between  the  Christian  majority  and 
the  minority  of  those  who  still  clung  to  polytheism  in  its 
decrepitude.  Both  parties  were  determined  to  put  an  end 
to  a  state  of  things  which  had  become  intolerable  to  each ; 
both  were  determined  to  strike  the  final  blow ;  and  al- 
though the  emperors  themselves  were  disposed  personally 
to  gain  the  victory  with  time  and  persuasion,  the  impatience 
of  the  pagan  leaders  hi  Rome  caused  the  catastrophe  to  be 
violent  and  marked  by  bloodshed. 

It  is  rather  difficult  to  describe  the  character,  the  feelings, 
the  behavior,  of  those  who  distinguished  themselves  during 
the  fight,  because  contemporary  writers  are  not  impartial ; 
they  judge  of  men  and  things  from  their  own  point  of  view, 
from  the  interest  of  their  party.  This  discrepancy  of  ap- 
preciation is  noticeable  even  in  points  of  supreme  impor- 
tance, in  events  which  had  been  seen  and  shared  by  thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  witnesses.  Christian  writers,,  as  a 
rule,  attribute  to  their  antagonists  any  amount  of  depravity, 
even  in  private  life  and  affections ;  pagan  writers  reproach 
their  opponents  with  conspiring  to  destroy  the  Empire,  with 
being  determined  to  open  the  gates  of  the  Eternal  City  to 
the  barbarians,  provided  the  triumph  of  their  new  faith 
could  be  secured.  The  author  of  the  libel  against  Virius 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  163 

Nicomachus  Flavianus,1  the  leader  of  the  pagan  aristoc- 
racy in  the  Senate,  describes  him  as  being  polluted  by 
unmentionable  vices;  whereas  Theodosius  II.  and  Valen- 
tinian  III.,  in  their  official  messages  to  the  Senate,  A.  D. 
431,  proclaim  him  nominis  illustris,  et  sanctissimce  apud 
omnes  recordationis,  an  illustrious  name,  a  man  whose  char- 
acter was  as  pure  as  gold.  Another  instance  of  this  more 
or  less  sincere  discrepancy  of  opinions  is  supplied  by  the 
well-known  quarrel  about  the  statue  of  Victory  in  the  Curia 
or  Senate-hall,  which  statue  for  centuries  had  been  con- 
sidered as  the  personification  of  the  power  and  destinies  of 
imperial  Rome.  This  statue,  formerly  worshipped  at  Taren- 
tum,  had  been  placed  by  Augustus  himself  on  the  tribune 
of  the  Curia,  and  ornamented  with  the  rarest  kind  of 
jewelry,  which  he  had  collected  in  Egypt.  An  altar  stood 
before  it,  to  receive  the  votive  offerings  of  the  patres 
conscripti.  From  the  day  of  Constantine's  conversion  to 
Christianity  to  the  year  382,  the  statue  and  the  altar  had 
been  left  undisturbed.  In  382,  however,  they  gave  rise 
to  the  memorable  duel  fought  between  S.  Ambrose  on  the 
Christian  and  Symmachus  on  the  pagan  side  before  Val- 
entinian  II.  and  Theodosius.  Symmachus  accused  his  rivals 
of  enmity,  not  toward  the  statue  of  Victory,  but  toward 
the  symbol  of  the  fortune  of  the  Roman  armies,  just  then 
engaged  in  trying  to  check  the  invasion  of  the  barbarians. 
S.  Ambrose,  on  the  other  hand,  never  mentions  the  statue, 
venerated  by  every  one  because  of  its  glorious  origin,  won- 

1  This  libel  was  discovered  by  De-  shown  that  Horace's  Satires  have  come 
lille  in  1867,  at  the  end  of  the  famous  down  to  us  through  one  copy  only, 
manuscript  of  Prudentius,  which  manu-  from  the  library  of  Mavortius  Basi- 
script  contains  marginal  notes  in  the  lius,  somewhat  altered  by  his  margi- 
handwriting  of  Vettius  Mavortius  Ba-  nal  notes  and  corrections.  The  libel 
silius  Agorius,  consul  A.  D.  427.  This  against  Flavianus,  discovered  by  De- 
statesman  was  a  clever  classical  stu-  lille,  was  published  by  Morel  in  the 
dent  for  his  age.  Herr  Horkel  has  Revue  Archeologique,  June,  1868. 


164  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

derf  ul  beauty,  and  great  age ;  he  contends  simply  that  the 
altar  and  the  official  worship  of  the  goddess  should  no 
longer  be  imposed  on  the  Christian  senators,  or  offend  their 
feelings  and  trouble  their  consciences.  The  want  of  trust- 
worthy contemporary  documents  is  compensated  to  a  certain 
extent  by  the  admirable  series  of  inscriptions  collected  in 
class  five  of  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Corpus  Inscriptionum 
Latinarum,  which  refers  to  Roman  patrician  magistrates  of 
the  fourth  century,  from  the  time  of  Diocletian  to  the  fall 
of  the  Empire.  These  inscriptions  derive  then*  importance 
from  the  fact  that,  in  describing  the  political,  religious,  and 
military  career  of  each  statesman  and  senator,  they  reveal  at 
the  same  time  absolutely  authentic  particulars  otherwise  un- 
known and  events  and  names  concerning  which  contem- 
porary writers  have  not  spoken,  or  have  spoken  with  passion 
and  prejudice.  These  marbles  tell  us  the  names  and  the 
exploits  of  the  last  champions  of  polytheism  in  the  Sen- 
ate. They  describe  how,  during  the  last  outburst  of  fanat- 
icism, the  most  absurd  superstitions,  the  most  mysterious 
and  contemptible  ceremonies,  were  revived,  —  those  espe- 
cially which  bore  a  certain  analogy  with  the  ceremonies  of 
Christian  worship.  They  throw  a  new  light  also  on  the 
catastrophe  which  brought  to  an  end  the  worship  of  Vesta, 
and  the  life,  eleven  centuries  old,  of  the  sisterhood  of  the 
Vestal  Virgins. 

The  leaders  of  the  pagan  faction  in  the  Curia  were 
Clodius  Hermogenianus,  Cselius  Hilarianus,  Clodius  Flavi- 
anus,  Petronius  Apollodorus,  Sextilius  Agesilaus,  the  two 
Rufii  Ceionii,  Nonius  Victor,  Aurelius  Victor,  and  other 
representatives  of  the  old  aristocracy.  But,  alas !  how 
miserably  they  represented  the  former  conquerors  of  the 
world  !  The  whole  party  was  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


165 


Mosaic  discovered  at 


secret  Eastern  sects,1  and  their  religious  fanaticism  stood  in 

contrast  to  the  original  purity  and  simplicity  of  Roman  re- 

ligion as  did  their  civil  and 

military  virtues  to  the  wis- 

dom and  valor  of  the  states- 

men  and    generals  of   the 

Republic,  and  also  of  the 

Empire,  in    its    first  three 

centuries  of  glorious  life. 

They  had  selected  as  the 
scene  of  their  grand  ex- 
ploits, as  a  place  for  confi- 
dential meetings,  two  sanc- 
tuaries, both  of  recent  con- 
struction, —  the  shrine  of 
Cybele  and  Atys  on  the  Vatican  hill,  and  the  grotto  of 
Mithras  in  the  Campus  Martius.  The  shrine  of  Cybele  is 
mentioned  by  ancient  writers  among  the  buildings  of  the 
fourteenth  region,  Transtiberim,  under  the  name  Phrygia- 
num.  Although  there  was  no  doubt  that  such  a  name  be- 
longed to  a  place  of  worship  of  the  Phrygian  goddess,  and 
that  such  a  place  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Vatican, 
still  no  positive  notice  of  its  history  and  exact  situation  was 
obtained  until  the  reign  of  Pope  Paul  V.,  Borghese.  In 
laying  the  foundations  of  the  southeast  corner  of  the  new 
fagade  of  S.  Peter's,  between  1608  and  1609,  at  a  depth 
of  thirty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ground,  several  altars 
and  pedestals  were  discovered,  on  which  the  history  of  the 
shrine  was  engraved.  These  marbles  apparently  had  been 
hammered  and  split  into  fragments  at  some  unknown  pe- 
riod; perhaps  after  the  great  religious  catastrophe  of  394, 

1  To   the  mysterious  symbolism  of     curious  mosaic  discovered  at  Pompeii, 
one  of  these   sects  must  belong  the     and  represented  above. 


166 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


of  which  I  shall  presently  speak.  The  sacred  grotto  of 
Mithras,  in  the  Campus  Martius,  was  within  the  limits  of 
the  seventh  region,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Via  Lata,  be- 
tween the  modern 
Corso  and  the  gen- 
eral post  -  office  in 
the  Piazza  of  S.  Sil- 
vestro  in  Capite, 
and,  more  precisely, 
in  the  plot  of 
ground  which  is 
now  occupied  by  the 
Marignoli  palace.  It 
was  discovered  at 
the  end  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  but 
no  satisfactory  ac- 
count of  the  dis- 
covery has  come 
down  to  us.  Fra 
Giovanni  Giocondo 
and  Pietro  Sabino, 
who  seem  to  have 
witnessed  the  event, 

only  copied  the  inscriptions  of  the  sanctuary,  without  de- 
scribing any  details  of  its  architecture  and  disposition. 
Both  places,  the  Vatican  Metroon  and  the  Mithrceum 
Campense,  as  they  were  officially  named,  had  been  filled 
with  numberless  altars  and  pedestals,  as  was  said  above, 
to  commemorate  the  initiation  of  eminent  men,  mostly 
senators  of  the  Empire,  into  those  horrid  mysteries  and 
into  the  various  degrees  of  the  sect.  And  do  the  records 
engraved  upon  these  marbles  enumerate  according  to  the 


The  Symbolic  Grotto  of  Mithras.      Relief  recently 
discovered  on  the  Esquiline. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


167 


Mithras    Cautes. 


ancient  custom,  the  civil,  military,  and  diplomatic  offices 
honorably  discharged  in  the  interest  of  their  sovereigns 
and  country?  Not  in  the  least.  These  men  pride  them- 
selves upon  titles  and  names  which  would  have  made  their 
noble  and  gallant  ancestors 
blush  with  shame  and  burst 
with  indignation.  They  call 
themselves  pater  sacrorum, 
father  of  mysteries ;  hierocorax 
invicti  Mithrce,  sacred  crow 
of  Mithras  the  omnipotent; 
archibucolus  del  Liberi,  great 
shepherd  of  Bacchus;  hiero- 
fantes  Hecatarum,  high-priest 
of  Hecate,  and  so  forth.  And 
they  make  use  of  a  peculiar 
kind  of  phraseology,  unknown  in  classic  times,  and  evi- 
dently copied  in  a  ridiculous  manner  from  Christian  mod- 
els. One  speaks  of  the  gods  animce  SUCK  mentisque 
custodes ;  another  proclaims  himself  delibutus  sacratissi- 
mis  mysterUs,  or  else  in  ceternum  renatus,  after  the 
baptism  of  blood;  all  of  them,  likewise,  testify  with  un- 
bounded pride  to  having  received  this  bloody  baptism, 
under  the  form  of  criobolium  or  taurobolium?  or  to  having 
renewed  the  ceremony  after  a  lapse  of  twenty  years,  because 
it  appears  that  the  abominable  sacrament  was  thought  to 
lose  its  redeeming  power  after  a  certain  time,  like  some  of 
our  cutaneous  injections. 

Two  senators,  Nonius  Victor  Olympius  and  Aurelius  Vic- 
tor Augentius,  presided  over  the  Mithraeum  Campense,  and 
were  the  grand-masters  of  this  kind  of  Free-masonry.  In 

1  The  criobolium  was  administered  with  the  blood  of  a  ram;  the  taurobolium 
with  the  blood  of  a  bull. 


168 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 


the  tablets  discovered  there  nearly  four  centuries  ago,  we 
can  follow  step  by  step  the  career  of  many  illustrious  adepts. 
Between  A.  D.  357  and  377  Nonius  and  Aurelius  adminis- 
tered right  and  left  the  degrees  of  corax  (crow),  cryphius 
(griffin),  leo,  Perses,  Heliodromos,  and  pater*  In  377, 
however,  the  practice  was  stopped,  probably,  by  the  prefect 

of  the  town,  Gracchus,  who 
attempted  to  destroy  all  the 
Mythraic  grottoes  in  Rome. 

The  worship  of  Vesta  was 
not  forgotten  in  this  last  out- 
break, in  this  last  revival  of 
pagan  superstitions.  We  are 
glad  to  acknowledge,  how- 
ever, that  our  virgins  did  not 
contaminate  the  last  days  of 
their  life  by  altering  the  an- 
cient purity  and  simplicity 
of  the  institution ;  they  fell 

nobly  and  gallantly,  faithful  to  the  rules  of  the  order  eleven 
centuries  old,  free  from  any  suspicion,  and  respected  even 
by  their  enemies,  in  whose  diatribes  we  are  happy  to  find  a 
certain  sense  of  kindness  and  respect  every  time  the  Vestals 
are  mentioned.  We  are  also  glad  to  testify  that  their 
name  is  not  profaned  in  the  records  of  the  Phrygian  and 
Mythraic  sects ;  the  senators,  who  caused  those  records  to 
be  engraved  on  marble,  only  occasionally  call  themselves 
pontifices  Vestce  and  pontifices  Vestales. 

The  infidel  majority  in  the  Senate  fought  the  last  bat- 
tles under  two  able  and  determined  leaders  :  Virius  Ni- 
comachus  Flavianus,  the  senior  (with  his  relatives  the  Sym 

1  The  '  numbers '  or  degrees  of  the  society  were  six  :  the  Venerable  of  the 
lodge  was  called  pater  patrum. 


Mithras  —  Sun. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  169 

machi),  and  Vettius  Agorius  Praetextatus.  Flavianus  took 
little  or  no  interest  in  the  Vestals,  perhaps  because  the  sim- 
plicity of  their  worship  did  not  sufficiently  excite  a  soul 
vitiated  by  the  violent  mysteries  of  the  Phrygian  and 
Persian  rites.  The  author  of  the  libel  discovered  by 
Delille,  and  mentioned  above,  ridicules  Flavianus  for  his 
performances  of  the  Amburbalia,  of  the  Isia,  of  the  Me- 
galesia,  of  the  Floralia  ;  but  he  never  speaks  of  the  Ves- 
talia,  of  the  perennial  fire,  or  of  the  Palladium.  Vettius 
Agorius  Praetextatus,  on  the  contrary,  was  intensely  devoted 
to  the  Virgins,  as  was  also  his  wife,  Fabia  Aconia  Paul- 
lina.  Their  palace  stood  at  the  corner  of  the  Via  Meru- 
lana  and  the  Via  delle  sette  Sale,  on  the  site  of  the  new 
palazzo  Brancaccio.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  garden,  which 
extended  as  far  as  the  present  railway  station.  Many 
monuments  concerning  the  history  of  their  family  have 
been  discovered  within  these  limits.  I  shall  mention, 
however,  one  only,  on  account  of  its  connection  with  the 
events  which  I  am  relating.  When  the  house  of  Praetex- 
tatus was  excavated  for  the  first  time  in  1591,  there  were 
found  a  pedestal  and  a  statue  erected  in  honor  of  Caelia 
Concordia,  the  last  (or  next  to  the  last)  abbess  of  the 
Atrium  Vestae.  The  pedestal  bore  the  following  dedication  : 
"  Fabia  Aconia  Paullina  sets  up  (in  her  own  palace)  this 
portrait-statue  of  Caelia  Concordia,  the  Abbess  of  the  Vestals, 
not  only  as  a  testimonial  to  her  virtues,  her  chastity  and 
her  devotion  to  the  gods,  but  also  as  a  token  of  gratitude 
for  the  honor  conferred  by  the  Vestals  upon  her  husband 
Praetextatus,  to  whom  they  have  dedicated  a  statue  in  their 
own  convent."  By  a  remarkable  chance,  this  last-named 
statue  has  been  discovered  in  our  excavations.  Its  head,  at 
first  missing,  was  found  by  accident  two  years  later.  It  is 
represented  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  There  seems 


170 


THE  HOUSE    OF  THE    VESTALS. 


to  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  the  very  one  alluded  to  by  Fabia 
Aconia  Paullina.    It  represents  a  senator  in  the  official  robe 

of  the  fourth  century, 
and  it  is  the  only  male 
statue  found  in  the 
Atrium  VestaB  ;  its  pres- 
ence there  would  have  re- 
mained almost  inexplica- 
ble, had  we  not  heard  of 
it  before,  from  the  above- 
quoted  inscription. 

I  must  now  mention  a 
pedestal  discovered  near 
the  northeast  corner  of 
the  Atrium  on  Novem- 
ber 5,  1883,  dedicated 
to  one  of  the  abbesses, 
A.  D.  364,  from  which 
the  name  of  the  lady 
appears  to  have  been 
erased  purposely.  Here 
is  the  text  of  the  re- 
markable inscription :  — 

OB  MERITVM  CASTITATIS 
PVDICITIAE  ADQ-  IN  SACRIS. 

EELIGIONIBVSQVE 
DOCTRINAE  MIRABILIS 

C E-  V  V'  MAX' 

PONTIFICES-    V-  V-  C-  C' 
PROMAG-  MACRINIO- 
SOSSIANO-  V-  C-P-  M- 

"  [This  statue  and  this  ped- 
estal  have    been    raised]    in 
honor  of  C [name  erased],  abbess  of  the  Vestals,  by  the  college  of 


STATUE  OF  PR£;TEXTATUS. 
Discovered  in  the  Atrium  of  the  Vestals. 


the  high-priests,  under  the  vice-presidency  of  Macrinius  Sossianus,  as  a 
testimonial  to  her  chastity  and  to  her  profound  knowledge  in  religious 
matters." 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  171 

It  would  be  very  interesting  in  connection  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  last  years  of  the  priesthood  to  ascertain  why  the 
name  of  the  abbess  was  hammered  out,  to  know  why  the 
memory  of  the  lady  was  condemned  by  the  pagan  faction, 
after  it  had  bestowed  so  many  praises  upon  her.  The  me- 
morice  damnatio  must  have  taken  place  between  364,  which 
is  the  date  written  on  the  right  side  of  the  marble,  and  394, 
the  date  of  the  abolition  of  the  order.  Three  causes  only 
can  be  suggested :  first,  the  conversion  of  the  priestess  to 
Christianity ;  secondly,  an  offence  against  the  rules ;  and 
lastly,  a  secession  from  the  order.  It  is  quite  probable  that 
she  became  a  Christian.  Prudentius,  in  the  hymn  to  S.  Law- 
rence, says,  ^Edemque  Laurenti  tuam  Vestalis  intrat  Clau- 
dia,—  "  Claudia,  the  Vestal  Virgin,  enters  thy  shrine";  and 
these  words  have  been  interpreted  by  some,  not  as  a  general 
and  impersonal  indication  of  the  conquests  made  by  the 
gospel  in  the  most  famous  strongholds  of  polytheism,  but  as 
positive  evidence  of  a  special  conquest  made  in  the  Atrium 
itself.  We  must  observe,  however,  that  the  conversion  of 
an  abbess  would  have  been  considered  such  an  enormous 
victory  for  the  faithful  that  it  is  remarkable  that  it  is  not 
mentioned  and  extolled  by  other,  more  serious  writers  than 
a  poet. 

No  less  extraordinary  an  event  would  have  been  the  in- 
cest of  a  Vestal ;  above  all,  the  incest  of  an  abbess.  Here, 
again,  we  can  produce  the  testimony  of  a  man  above  sus- 
picion, that  such  a  crime  was  actually  committed  by  a  Vestal 
Virgin  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century.  Symmachus, 
the  great  pagan  orator,  describes  the  fall  of  a  Vestal 
named  Primigenia,  and  insists  that  she  be  punished  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  rules.  The  culprit,  however,  did  not 
belong  to  the  Roman  house  of  the  order ;  she  belonged  to 
the  house  at  Albanum.  This  explains  why  the  crime  of  the 


172  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

priestess  did  not  create  more  sensation  in  Rome.  A  seces- 
sion from  the  order  is  mentioned  by  the  same  authority, 
Symmachus.  One  of  his  letters  has  come  down  to  us,  ad- 
dressed to  a  Vestal,  whose  name  is  not  given,  in  which  he 
inquires  anxiously  whether  he  must  believe  the  rumor,  spread 
far  and  wide,  of  her  intended  secession  from  the  order.  Of 
course,  such  an  act  was  perfectly  legal  after  thirty  years  of 
service,  and  the  lady  whose  name  was  erased  from  the  ped- 
estal being  a  Vestalis  Maxima,  had  surely  gone  far  beyond 
the  legal  term.  But  the  anxiety  of  Symmachus  is  very  nat- 
ural. A  leader  of  the  infidel  party  could  not  help  feeling 
the  wrong  done  to  its  interests  by  the  desertion  from  the 
battle-field  of  a  woman  of  such  high  standing  and  consider- 
ation as  a  Vestalis  Maxima.  And  as  her  behavior  was  not 
punishable  in  any  way,  Symmachus  and  his  colleagues,  the 
Pontiftces  mqjores,  resorted  to  the  only  possible  revenge, 
—  erasure  of  her  name  from  the  pedestal  which  they  had 
dedicated  some  time  before  in  the  Atrium,  and  covered  with 
her  praises. 

The  signs  of  an  approaching  catastrophe  were  first  no- 
ticed in  383,  with  joy  on  one  side,  with  ill-concealed  rage 
on  the  other.  By  an  imperial  decree  of  that  year,  signed 
by  Gratianus,  the  privileges  and  patrimonies  of  all  pagan 
places  of  worship  were  abolished  and  confiscated,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  not  becoming  a  Christian  government 
and  a  Christian  state  to  supply  unbelievers  and  infidels 
with  the  means  of  persevering  in  their  errors  and  of  op- 
posing the  conquests  of  the  gospel ;  that  it  was  unjust  and 
intolerable  that  profane  and  offensive  sacrifices  should  be 
offered,  as  it  were,  in  the  name  and  with  the  money  of  a 
Christian  government.  At  the  same  time  the  pagans  were 
left  entirely  free  to  keep  their  temples  and  shrines  in  good 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  173 

order,  and  to  perform  their  ceremonies  even  in  public,  pro- 
vided this  was  done  at  their  own  cost. 

The  pagan  senators,  who  still  commanded  a  majority  in 
that  body,  not,  perhaps,  because  there  were  so  many  pagans 
among  the  populace,  but  owing  rather  to  the  glorious  tra- 
ditions which  clustered  around  many  of  the  pagan  family 
names,  did  the  best  they  could  to  obtain  a  revocation  of 
the  decree  ;  but  Valentinian  II.  was  inexorable  in  demand- 
ing the  accomplishment  of  the  edict  of  his  brother  Grati- 
anus.  He  went  even  a  step  further.  By  a  second  decree, 
dated  391,  superstitious  sacrifices  were  prohibited  in  Rome 
and  throughout  Italy,  even  if  offered  under  a  private  name. 
Then,  as  happens  generally  in  such  momentous  circum- 
stances, when  a  disaffected  party  has  the  good  or  bad  for- 
tune to  find  an  energetic,  unscrupulous,  daring  leader,  well 
known  to  the  populace  for  his  social  position,  for  riches,  or 
for  nobility  of  descent,  —  then  the  infidels  resorted  to  their 
last  chance,  that  of  open  rebellion.  Their  flag  was  hoisted 
by  Nicomachus  Flavianus  himself. 

In  392,  Valentinian  II.,  upon  whom  the  hatred  of  the 
rebels  was  concentrated,  was  brutally  murdered  by  Arbo- 
gastes,  the  Gallic  commander-in-chief  of  the  Western  armies, 
and  Eugenius  was  elected  in  his  place.  Eugenius,  although 
brought  up  as  a  Christian,  was  a  feeble,  superstitious,  vacil- 
lating man  ;  and  placed,  as  he  found  himself,  at  the  head  of 
a  revolution,  political  and  religious  at  the  same  time,  did  not 
at  once  repudiate  his  former  persuasion.  Twice  the  Senate 
sent  him  embassies  to  obtain  the  revocation  of  the  decrees 
of  383  and  391 ;  twice  he  refused  to  restore  to  the  pagan 
faction  the  property  of  its  temples,  the  privileges  of  its 
priests.  The  third  embassy  was  more  successful.  Eugenius 
made  a  kind  of  compromise  between  his  conscience  and  his 
duty :  he  made  a  personal  gift  to  Flavianus  and  his  col- 
leagues of  the  property  seized  in  383. 


174  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

Furnished  with  such  powerful  means,  the  victorious  fac- 
tion  indulged  at  once  in  an  outburst  of  fanaticism.  Every 
long-forgotten  exhibition  of  pagan  ceremonies  was  con- 
ducted, as  it  were,  in  the  name  of  the  Empire,  with  gor- 
geous and  triumphal  mise  en  scene.  They  began  by  the 
histrum  or  sacriftcium  amburbale  of  Rome,  a  ceremony 
which  had  never  been  celebrated  since  the  time  of  Aurelian, 
when  the  fear  of  the  invasion  of  the  Marcomanni  caused 
him  to  fortify  the  capital,  materially  with  the  walls  which 
are  still  in  existence,  morally  and  religiously  with  the  am- 
burbium. 

Next  came  the  Isia.  During  four  days  Rome  enjoyed 
the  ridiculous  sight  of  Flavianus  and  his  partisans  mourn- 
ing over  the  death  of  Osiris,  and  marching  in  procession, 
with  the  hair  shaved,  in  long  white  woollen  clothes,  carry- 
ing cynocephali  in  their  hands.  Next,  they  resorted  to  the 
Megalesia,  the  .mysterious  worship  of  Cybele.  After  being 
baptized  in  blood,  they  carried  through  the  principal  thor- 
oughfares the  chariot  of  the  goddess,  with  lions  of  solid  sil- 
ver. The  last  celebration  mentioned  by  contemporary  writ- 
ers is  that  of  the  Floralia,  which  in  ancient  times  was  con- 
sidered the  most  profligate  and  indecent  of  all  festivals. 

Against  the  army  of  the  avenger,  Theodosius  I.,  provi- 
sions were  made  worthy  of  the  faction.  Images  of  Hercu- 
les Invictus  were  substituted  for  the  glorious  Labarum  of 
Constantine,  and  hundreds  of  statues  of  Jupiter,  with 
golden  thunderbolts  in  his  hand,  were  set  up  on  the 
Alpine  passes  and  military  roads  through  which  the  army 
of  Theodosius  was  expected  to  advance. 

The  exact  spot  at  which  the  decisive  battle  took  place  in 
upper  Italy  is  not  known ;  we  are  ignorant  also  of  its  date. 
Socrates,  the  historian,  mentions  the  6th  of  September, 
394 ;  perhaps  it  was  fought  two  or  three  days  later.  One 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE   VESTALS.  175 

thing  is  certain :  the  people  of  Rome,  on  the  17th  of  that 
month,  were  still  ignorant  of  the  result  of  the  battle.  In 
1864,  while  the  central  crypts  of  Priscilla's  catacombs  were 
being  excavated,  a  tombstone  was  found,  erected  in  mem- 
ory of  Urania  Aurelia  by  her  servant  Leontius,  and  dated 
xv  kalendas  Octobres  Nicomacho  Fldbiano  consule  (the 
17th  of  September  under  the  consulship  of  Flavianus). 
Now  Flavianus  had  lost  his  life  in  battle,  and  if  the  event 
had  been  known  in  Rome,  when  the  city  was  trembling 
from  fear  of  reaction  and  revenge,  no  one  would  have  dared 
to  engrave  on  marble  the  name  of  the  leader  of  polytheism, 
who  had  just  paid  with  his  life,  and  with  the  life  of  his 
emperor  and  supporter,  Eugenius,  the  folly  of  the  rebellion. 
Who  could  properly  describe  the  hopes,  the  anxieties,  the 
despair,  of  our  Vestals  during  these  terrible  days  of  uncer- 
tainty? See  them  kneeling  before  the  statue  of  the  god- 
dess, which  from  hour  to  hour  they  expected  would  be 
mutilated  by  the  populace ;  see  them  trying  to  screen  and 
protect  behind  the  rampart  of  their  chaste  bodies  the  fire 
which,  after  burning  with  no  interruption  for  eleven  cen- 
turies, was  in  peril  of  being  extinguished  forever !  And 
when  the  fatal  tidings  of  the  defeat  of  Eugenius  came  to 
their  knowledge,  when  the  order  for  their  banishment  from 
Vesta's  Atrium  was  issued,  did  they  find  time  to  conceal 
the  sacred  tokens  of  the  Roman  Empire  (as  they  had  done 
on  the  occasion  of  the  Gallic  war),  to  save  the  Palladium 
from  profanation,  to  destroy  every  trace,  every  sign,  which 
could  reveal  to  the  outer  world  the  mysteries  of  their  house, 
the  secrets  of  their  institution  ?  We  believe  they  did ; 
we  believe,  as  we  have  said,  that  the  secret  was  buried  with 
the  corpse  of  the  last  Vestal.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the 
destruction  of  the  penetralia,  or  innermost  sanctuary  in 
which  the  relics  were  kept,  was  accomplished  by  the  Vestals 


176  THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS. 

themselves,  during  the  few  days  that  elapsed  between  the 
defeat  of  Eugenius  and  the  suppression  of  their  order. 

The  reaction  of  the  victorious  party  was  not  violent. 
Theodosius  named  as  commissaire  extraordinaire  for  Rome 
and  the  Peninsula  (agens  vicem  prcefectorum  prcetorio  et 
urbi]  a  gentleman  of  moderate  ideas,  Fabius  Passifilus 
Paolinus.  He  enforced,  no  doubt,  absolute  obedience  to 
imperial  decrees  concerning  paganism,  but  did  not  resort  to 
violence  or  persecution.  One  thing  is  absolutely  certain : 
when  the  gates  of  the  Atrium  were  thrown  open  to  public 
curiosity,  and  the  crowd  entered  the  cloisters  (confiscated 
as  the  property  of  the  state)  and  stepped  over  the  threshold 
which  no  man  had  crossed  before  without  danger  of  death, 
no  damage  whatever  was  committed,  no  injury  done  either 
to  the  building  or  to  its  artistic  treasures.  In  spite  of 
mediaeval  lime-burners,  in  spite  of  natural  decay,  in  spite  of 
the  excavations  of  1497,  1549,  and  1785,  we  have  discov- 
ered statues  and  busts,  pedestals  and  inscriptions,  bronzes, 
glass,  and  jewelry,  of  which  some  were  still  in  their  ancient 
places. 

We  are  informed  by  Zosimus,  the  historian,  that  some 
time  after  the  secularization  of  the  building  the  young 
Princess  Serena  took  possession  of  a  precious  necklace 
which  still  ornamented  the  statue  of  the  goddess ;  a  dar- 
ing attempt,  indeed,  which  the  lady  expiated  soon  after  in 
a  horrible  manner.  The  circumstance  is  thus  described  by 
the  historian :  "  Rome  being  surrounded  and  besieged  by 
Alaric,  the  senators  began  to  suspect  Serena  of  secret  con- 
nivance with  the  barbarians.  The  whole  assembly,  and 
even  Claudia,  the  sister  of  the  emperor,  were  determined 
to  put  her  to  death,  hoping  that  her  execution  would  induce 
the  besieger  to  withdraw.  The  suspicion,  nevertheless,  was 
unjust  and  groundless,  Serena  having  never  dreamed  of 


THE  HOUSE   OF  THE    VESTALS.  177 

opening  the  gates  to  the  enemy ;  but  she  was  doomed  to 
expiate  her  sacrilege  against  the  gods,  as  I  shall  relate 
presently.  When  Theodosius  II.  entered  Rome,  after  the 
defeat  of  Eugenius,  and  priests  and  priestesses  were  ex- 
pelled from  temples,  and  the  temples  were  closed,  Serena 
manifested  a  desire  to  enter  and  examine  one  of  the  tem- 
ples, the  shrine  of  Rhea  [Vesta].  Here  she  was  so  capti- 
vated by  the  beauty  of  a  necklace  that  she  took  it  with  her 
own  hands  from  the  shoulders  of  the  goddess,  and  fixed 
it  on  her  own  neck.  An  old  woman,  the  last  surviving 
Vestal,  having  witnessed  by  chance  the  profanation,  cursed 
the  princess,  and  predicted  that  sooner  or  later  she  would 
sadly  expiate  her  crime.  Serena,  at  first,  took  no  notice  of 
the  awful  malediction ;  but  the  old  Vestal  had  told  the 
truth,  —  Serena  died  by  strangulation  !  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   PUBLIC   LIBBARIES  OF  ANCIENT  AND  MEDIEVAL  BOMB. 

THE  history  of  the  public  libraries  in  ancient  and  medi- 
aeval Rome  has  not  yet  been  written,  and  is  only  to  be 
gathered  in  a  fragmentary  and  imperfect  way  from  isolated 
passages  of  the  classics  and  from  inscriptions.  There  is  no 
doubt  that,  in  ancient  times,  special  books  concerning  these 
libraries  were  written  and  published.  It  appears  that  one  of 
the  eighty  volumes  which  Varro  is  said  to  have  written  was 
entitled  "De  Bibliothecis."  According  to  Suidas,  Telephus, 
a  school-teacher  of  Pergamon,  issued  a  volume,  a  notitia 
librorum  in  three  sections,  one  of  which  described  minutely 
the  leading  libraries  of  his  age.  These  special  works,  how- 
ever, have  not  come  down  to  us ;  and  the  subject  which  I 
have  selected  for  this  chapter  has  in  a  certain  sense  the 
attraction  of  novelty,  in  spite  of  the  more  or  less  successful 
attempts  made  up  to  the  present  time  to  illustrate  it,  as  it 
were,  piecemeal. 

The  essays  on  ancient  libraries,  published  between  1606 
and  1876  by  Lipsius,  Saint  -  Charles,  Lomeier,  Struve, 
Liirsen,  Petit-Radel,  Michaud,  and  others,  are  not  only  in- 
complete, but  almost  worthless,  because  we  have  gained 
more  knowledge  on  this  subject  within  the  last  few  years, 
by  the  results  of  the  excavations  at  Pergamon,  Pompeii, 
and  Rome,  than  the  authors  above  named  could  gather  in 
the  space  of  two  centuries  and  a  half.  An  exception  to  the 
rule  must  be  made  in  favor  of  a  few  absolutely  recent 
publications,  which,  although  relating  to  some  special  chap- 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  179 

ters  in  the  history  of  ancient  libraries,  have  still  brought 
many  new  important  facts  and  particulars  under  our  know- 
ledge. Such  is  the  essay  by  Professor  Alexander  Conze, 
"  Die  pergamenische  Bibliothek,"  read  at  a  session  of  the 
Royal  Prussian  Academy  of  Sciences  on  December  18, 
1884;  such  also  is  the  pamphlet  by  Carlo  Castellani, 
"Delle  Biblioteche  nelT  Antichita,  dai  tempi  piu  remoti, 
alia  fine  dell'  Impero  Romano,"  published  at  Bologna  in 
1884.  I  have  myself  been  a  contributor  to  the  history  of 
public  libraries,  by  describing  in  1883  the  one  annexed  to 
the  palace  of  Augustus  on  the  Palatine  hill.  All  these 
publications,  however,  have  been  superseded  by  the  latest 
work  of  Commendatore  de  Rossi,  the  title  of  which  is 
"  Commentaries  on  the  Origin,  History,  and  Catalogues 
of  the  Archives  and  Libraries  of  the  Holy  See." 

The  first  important  library  in  ancient  Rome  was  that 
which  L.  ^Flmilius  Paulus,  the  conqueror  of  Macedonia, 
brought  over  from  the  palace  of  King  Perseus.  Sulla,  the 
dictator,  when  in  Athens,  laid  his  hands  on  a  far  richer 
collection,  —  on  the  library,  namely,  of  Apellikon,  which 
had  belonged  previously  to  Aristotle  himself.  The  vicissi- 
tudes of  this  library  were  remarkably  strange.  Aristotle 
bequeathed  it  to  his  disciple  Theophrastus,  who  largely  in- 
creased its  value  and  importance  by  the  addition  of  his  own 
works  and  of  works  of  contemporaries,  secured  at  a  great 
sacrifice  from  various  lands.  Neleus,  a  disciple  and  heir  to 
Theophrastus,  removed  the  library  to  Scepsis  in  Troas, 
where  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  some  ignorant  relatives  of  his. 
Strabo,  the  geographer,  relates  how  these  relatives,  having 
heard  that  the  king  of  Pergamon  was  collecting  books  for 
his  new  library,  and  fearing  for  the  safety  of  then-  own, 
actually  buried  it  underground  in  a  damp  place,  in  which  it 


180  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

remained  for  some  time,  until  Apellikon,  of  Teos,  a  Peri- 
patetic philosopher,  bought  it,  and  carried  the  precious 
collection  back  to  Athens.  Strabo  adds  that  Apellikon, 
when  he  found  many  manuscripts  of  the  great  master 
damaged  by  mildew  and  dampness,  patched  them  up  ac- 
cording to  his  own  fancy,  and  published  them,  in  course 
of  time,  as  genuine  works  of  Aristotle.  Sulla,  however, 
the  purchaser  or  the  usurper  of  Apellikon's  library,  seems 
to  have  guarded  his  books  so  jealously  that  when  Tyrannic, 
Cicero's  librarian,  was  asked  by  Andronikos,  from  Rhodes, 
to  compare  some  passages  in  Aristotle's  books,  he  could 
obtain  admission  into  the  sanctum  only  by  bribing  Sulla's 
librarian.  Lucullus  seems  to  have  been  more  liberal  in 
placing  at  the  disposal  of  learned  men  the  literary  treasures 
he  had  brought  home  from  the  kingdom  of  Pontus.  His 
munificence  and  kindness  to  scholars  and  students  is  highly 
praised  by  Plutarch,  who  says  that  Lucullus's  house  was 
more  a  temple  of  the  Muses  than  a  private  mansion. 

T.  Pomponius  Atticus,  the  faithful  and  intimate  friend  of 
Cicero,  seems  to  have  put  together  his  library  more  from 
love  of  speculation  than  of  literature.  Cicero,  in  one  of  his 
letters  (i.  7),  reminds  him  not  to  forget  his  request  for 
literary  novelties  ;  in  another  he  asks  Atticus  to  send  over 
two  bookbinders,  with  a  supply  of  parchment,  upon  which 
the  titles  of  the  books  could  be  written,  or  rather  illu- 
minated, in  bright  colors.  Atticus  dispatched  two  of  his 
cleverest  assistants,  named  Dionysius  and  Menophilus,  and 
they  put  the  whole  of  Cicero's  library  in  order  so  skilfully 
and  neatly  that  the  illustrious  orator  actually  wrote  a  letter 
of  thanks  and  praise  to  his  friend  Atticus,  the  bookseller. 
Strange  to  say,  even  at  this  early  stage  of  bibliophily 
there  were  stealers  of  books.  In  another  letter,  addressed 
by  Cicero  to  P.  Sulpicius  (Ad  fam.  xiii.  77),  he  relates 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


181 


how  one  of  his  more  trustworthy  servants,  named  Diony- 
sius,  had  run  away  with  a  certain  number  of  valuable 
volumes,  and  begs  his  correspondent  to  try  to  discover  the 
runaway  in  Dalmatia,  to  which  province  he  was  thought  to 
have  made  his  escape.  Res  ipsa  parva,  Cicero  writes  in 
despair,  sed  animi  mei  dolor  magnus  est.  I  will  not  de- 
scribe other  private  libraries  of  imperial  Rome :  the  one  of 
Epaphroditus  of  Chseronaea,  the  secretary  of  Nero  ;  the 
one  of  the  poet  Persius  numbering  700  volumes ;  the  one 
of  both  Plinys,  and  so  forth.  I  will  relate  a  few  anecdotes 
only  which  enable  us  to  enter  into  the  secrets  of  these  pri- 
vate temples  of  learning. 

According  to  Vitruvius,  the  apartment  of  the  house  used 
as  a  library  should  be  ex- 
posed towards  the  east,  not 
only  because  such  an  expos- 
ure is  the  most  convenient 
for  reading  in  the  early 
hours  of  the  morning,  but 
also  because  a  southern  or 
a  western  exposure  would 
favor  the  development  of 
moths  and  mildew  and  the 
deterioration  of  books. 
These  apartments  were,  as 
a  rule,  of  small  size. 

In  1753,  a  private  library 
was  discovered  at  Hercula- 
neum,  with  bookcases  around 

the  Walls,  and  One    bookcase        Scrolls,    Writing   Utensils,   and    Book- 
.1  .  i  T,  case.     Relief  from  a  Roman  Sarcoph- 

in  the  middle  of  the  floor.         agWm    Mter  MazoiS)  Le  Palais  de 

Although   containing  at         Scaurns, pi. 8. 

least  1,700  volumes  or  rolls  of  papyrus,  the  size  of  the  room 


182  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME, 

did  not  exceed  fifteen  feet  by  twenty.  This  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  libraries  were  never  warmed,  even  in  the  depths  of 
winter,  either  by  steam,  hot  air,  or  open  fires ;  not  only  so 
that  the  dangers  of  conflagration  might  be  avoided,  but 
also  because  heat  is  injurious  to  books  and  bindings,  and 
favors  the  development  of  moths.  This  is  the  reason  why 
students  in  our  own  Vatican  library  have  always  been  con- 
demned to  freeze  for  four  months  of  the  year.  The  an- 
cients avoided  both  extremes,  freezing  and  burning,  by 
keeping  their  literary  treasures  in  small  rooms,  such  as  the 
one  discovered  at  Herculaneum. 

With  regard  to  the  number  of  volumes  collected  in  pri- 
vate libraries,  it  varied,  of  course,  according  to  the  taste  and 
pecuniary  resources  of  the  owner.  Persius,  as  I  have  just 
remarked,  satisfied  himself  with  700  volumes ;  Q.  Serenus 
Sammonicus,  a  physician  of  the  third  century,  collected  not 
less  than  62,000,  which  afterwards  became,  by  bequest,  the 
property  of  the  crown.  As  a  rule,  private  collectors  were 
exceedingly  fond  of  rare  and  costly  editions  de  luxe,  of 
dainty  little  volumes  in  which  a  skilful  hand  had  concen- 
trated the  contents  of  an  ordinary  folio.  Such  were  the 
three  pocket  volumes  described  by  Martial,  one  of  which 
contained  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  of  Homer,  one  the  Met- 
amorphoses of  Ovid,  one  the  opera  omnia  of  Virgil :  — 

"  Quam  brevis  immensum  cepit  membrana  Maronem ! 
Ipsius  vultus  prima  tabella  gerit." 

We  learn  from  this  epigram  that,  the  front  or  title  page 
of  these  fashionable  editions  contained,  as  a  rule,  the  por- 
trait of  the  author.  No  wonder  that  rare  or  elegant  edi- 
tions would  sometimes  cost  a  small  fortune.  According  to 
Gellius,  Aristotle  gave  a  sum  corresponding  to  $3,300  for 
a  copy  of  Speusippos ;  Plato,  likewise,  paid  $1,833  for  three 
volumes  of  Philolaos. 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  183 

King  Ptolemaeus  Euergetes  II.,  in  his  efforts  to  improve 
the  stock  of  the  two  royal  Alexandrian  libraries  of  the 
Bruchion  and  of  the  Serapaion,  sent  messengers  to  Athens 
to  collect  new  books,  and  to  try  to  obtain,  above  all,  copies 
of  the  tragedies  of  ^Eschylos,  Sophokles,  and  Euripides. 
He  promised  that  as  soon  as  copies  of  the  tragedies  could 
be  finished  by  the  Alexandrian  amanuenses  he  would  send 
back  to  Athens  the  original,  and  deposited  fifteen  Attic 
talents  (or  $16,500)  as  a  guarantee  for  the  restitution.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  the  $16,500  were  willingly  lost  and 
forfeited ;  King  Ptolemaeus  kept  for  himself  the  originals, 
and  sent  back  to  Athens  only  the  copies. 

The  great  book  market,  the  "  Paternoster-row  "  of  ancient 
Rome,  was  the  Argiletum,  a  quarter  situated  between  the 
Roman  Forum  and  the  Subura.  Here  the  librarii  and  the 
antiquarii,  booksellers  and  copyists  of  old  works,  kept  their 
richly  furnished  shops,  so  often  mentioned  and  described  by 
Martial  and  Horace.  On  either  side  of  the  entrance  door 
there  were  hung  elaborate  advertisements,  giving  the  title 
and  the  price  of  literary  novelties.  Each  of  the  leading 
booksellers  secured  the  privilege  of  the  works  of  a  lead- 
ing author.  Thus  the  brothers  Sosii  were  the  agents  for 
Horace,  and  Atrectus  and  Secundus  were  the  publishers 
of  Martial,  Tryphon  of  Quintilianus,  and  Dorus  of  Seneca. 
Editions  of  one  thousand  copies  were  generally  issued,  as 
certified  by  Pliny  the  younger,  and  appeared  in  various  lite- 
rary markets  at  the  same  time  :  in  Athens,  where  the  great 
meeting-place  of  bibliophiles  was  in  the  orchestra  of  the 
theatre  of  Bacchus ;  in  Alexandria  near  the  Serapaion ;  in 
Lyons,  and  so  on.  So  great  was  the  demand  for  rare  books 
that  spurious  ones  were  freely  put  in  circulation,  a  practice 
strongly  denounced  by  Galenus,  who  complains  that  he 
found  in  book-stalls  volumes  bearing  the  name  of  Hippoc- 
rates which  had  never  been  written  by  the  great  master. 


184  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

The  first  public  library  in  Rome  was  built  and  opened, 
about  A.  u.  c.  717,  by  Asinius  Pollio,  the  brilliant  and  spir- 
ited writer,  so  much  admired  by  Horace  and  Catullus.  The 
library  was  organized  in  the  Atrium  Libertatis  on  the  Aven- 
tine,  one  wing  being  set  apart  for  Greek,  one  for  Lathi,  lit- 
erature. Four  years  later,  Augustus  determined  to  carry 
into  execution  the  project  of  Julius  Ca3sar  and  of  his  lite- 
rary counsel,  Terentius  Varro,  to  make  of  public  libraries  a 
state  institution.  He  named  Pompeius  Macer  director  of 
the  department,  and  put  at  his  disposal  large  sums  of  money 
collected  during  the  Dalmatian  war.  The  first  state  public 
library,  opened  according  to  the  new  programme,  was  the 
Bibliotheca  Octavice,  so  called  in  honor  of  Augustus's  sis- 
ter, Octavia ;  and  the  first  librarian  was  C.  Melissus,  of 
Spoletum.  Then  followed  the  Bibliotheca  Palatina  Apol- 
linis,  organized  by  the  librarian  C.  Julius  Hyginus,  of  which 
library  I  have  already  spoken  in  the  chapter  on  the  palace 
of  the  Ca3sars.  Tiberius  gave  up  a  wing  of  his  own  palace 
for  a  third  institution  of  the  kind,  which,  although  called 
by  Gellius  and  Vopiscus  Bibliotheca  Tiberiana,  seems  to 
have  contained  state  papers  and  documents,  rather  than 
books. 

The  fifth  imperial  library  was  established  by  Vespasian 
in  his  Forum  Pads  ;  the  sixth  by  Trajan  in  his  own  forum. 
This  last,  the  richest  and  most  magnificent  in  the  metrop- 
olis, and  famous  for  its  collection  of  libri  elephantini  (books 
with  leaves  of  ivory),  was  removed,  at  the  end  of  the  third 
century,  by  Diocletian,  from  Trajan's  forum  to  his  own 
thermae,  on  the  Quirinal. 

I  cannot  enter  into  particulars  of  the  material  and  sci- 
entific organization  of  these  libraries,  because  I  must  confine 
myself  to  a  sketch  of  their  main  features.  The  number 
of  volumes  which  they  contained  must  have  been  immense. 


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PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  185 

The  two  Alexandrian  libraries  of  the  Bruchion  and  of  the 
Serapaion  contained  132,800  different  works :  making  a 
total  of  more  than  400,000  volumes,  according  to  Kalli- 
machos ;  500,000  according  to  Flavius  Josephus ;  700,000 
according  to  Gellius.  This  difference  between  the  number 
of  works  and  the  number  of  volumes  is  easily  explained  by 
the  fact  that  it  was  customary,  in  ancient  times,  to  subdivide 
each  work  into  as  many  volumes  as  there  were  chapters  or 
cantos.  Thus  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  could  form  a  set 
of  twenty-four  volumes  each,  and  the  ceuvres  completes  of 
Aristotle  a  set  of  many  hundred.  In  1821,  a  papyrus  was 
discovered  in  the  island  of  Philse,  containing  677  verses 
from  the  twenty-fourth  canto  of  the  Iliad.  The  papyrus 
was  eight  feet  long  and  ten  inches  wide.  It  is  easy  to 
understand  that  this  copy  of  the  poem  was  distributed  over 
forty-one  rolls  or  volumes  ;  and  when  we  hear  authors  issu- 
ing a  prodigious  number  of  volumes,  —  of  Kallimachos,  for 
instance,  to  whom  800  volumes  are  attributed  ;  of  Didymos, 
who  is  asserted  to  have  written  3,500,  —  we  must  never 
attribute  to  the  phrase  the  modern  meaning,  but  regard  it 
simply  as  denoting  chapters  and  paragraphs.  From  the 
library  of  Pergamon,  M.  Antonius,  the  triumvir,  alone  was 
able  to  steal  200,000  volumes. 

Doubt  has  been  expressed  as  to  whether  books  could  be 
borrowed  from  these  libraries  by  private  individuals  ;  that  is, 
for  a  definite  length  of  time.  Beyond  doubt,  I  think,  they 
could,  and  the  librarians  could  lend  books  to  trustworthy 
applicants.  Aulus  Gellius  relates  that,  one  day,  being  the 
guest  of  a  distinguished  friend  in  a  villa  near  Tibur  (Tivoli) 
a  discussion  rose  amongst  the  company  as  to  whether  the 
use  of  iced  water,  as  an  ordinary  drink  in  warm  weather, 
was  injurious  to  health.  One  of  the  personages  present, 
in  condemning  the  practice  most  decidedly,  quoted  the 


186  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

authority  of  celebrated  physicians,  and  of  the  great  Aris- 
totle himself.  As  the  audience  expressed  some  doubt  in 
regard  to  Aristotle's  opinion,  the  gentleman  ran  to  the  pub- 
lic library  of  Tibur,  borrowed  a  volume  of  Aristotle,  and 
read  the  passage  in  which  the  use  of  iced  water  was  strongly 
denounced  as  pernicious.  Gellius  adds  that  such  was  the 
impression  created  on  the  assembly  by  the  words  of  Aris- 
totle that  they  all  decided  at  once  to  give  up  forever  the 
habit  of  using  water  with  ice  or  snow. 

To  come  back  to  Roman  libraries,  we  are  tolerably  well 
acquainted  with  the  circumstances  and  date  of  their  final 
destruction.  The  library  of  Octavia  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  the  year  80,  under  the  rule  of  Titus.  The  one  in  the 
palace  of  Tiberius  appears  to  have  met  with  the  same  fate 
in  the  great  fire  of  191,  under  the  reign  of  Commodus. 
The  one  connected  with  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus 
seems  to  have  been  annihilated  at  the  same  time  from  the 
effects  of  a  thunder-bolt.  The  famous  library  of  Apollo, 
on  the  Palatine,  was  likewise  completely  destroyed  by  fire 
in  the  night  between  the  18th  and  19th  of  March  of  the 
year  363.  As  I  have  stated  already  in  the  fifth  chapter, 
on  the  authority  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  such  was  the 
violence  of  the  flames  that  only  the  Sibylline  books  could 
be  saved  out  of  many  hundred  thousand  volumes. 

We  must  not  believe  that  these  catastrophes  could  carry 
with  them  the  complete  destruction  of  ancient  Latin  litera- 
ture. Not  only  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  private  libraries 
were  left  intact,  but,  before  these  catastrophes  took  place, 
Christian  libraries  had  already  been  established,  and  were 
flourishing  in  many  places.  That  Christian  communities, 
soon  after  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  provided  them- 
selves with  libraries  pertaining  to  sacred  literature  is  proved 
by  many  passages  in  the  Acta  sincera  Martyrum  ("  Annals 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  187 

of  the  Persecution  of  the  Church  ")  from  the  time  of  Nero 
to  that  of  Julian  the  Apostate.  In  the  "  Acts  "  of  Minucius 
Felix,  from  Cirta,  now  Constantine,  it  is  related  how  the 
magistrates  went  to  the  house  in  which  the  Christians  met, 
and  opened  the  library  to  seize  the  books ;  but  inventa  sunt 
ibi  armaria  inania.  Alfius  Caecilianus,  magistrate  of 
Autun,  is  said  to  have  found  in  the  local  Christian  library 
epistolas  salutatorias,  namely,  correspondence  between  the 
bishops.  Mensurius,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  of  the  imminent  confiscation  of  the  books  belonging 
to  the  central  library  of  his  diocese,  concealed  codices 
pretiosos  vel  pretiosissimos,  and  put  in  their  place  scripta 
hcereticorum,  which  he  was  only  too  happy  to  have  seized. 

The  finest  libraries  of  the  first  three  centuries  of  Chris- 
tendom were  of  course  in  Rome.  They  contained  not  only 
books  and  documents  of  local  interest,  such  as  the  gesta 
martyrum,  the  matriculce  pauperum,  and  so  forth,  but  also 
copies  of  the  official  correspondence  between  the  see  of 
Rome  and  the  dioceses  of  the  Christian  world.  Such  was 
the  importance  attributed  to  books  in  those  early  days  of 
our  faith  that,  in  Christian  basilicas,  or  places  of  worship, 
they  were  kept  in  the  place  of  honor,  next  to  the  episcopal 
chair.  Many  of  the  basilicas  which  we  discover  from  time  to 
time,  especially  in  the  Campagna,  have  the  apse  trichora  ; 
that  is,  subdivided  into  three  smaller  hemicycles.  The 
reason  and  the  meaning  of  this  peculiar  form  of  an  apse 
was  long  sought  in  vain  ;  but  a  recent  discovery  made 
at  Hispalis  proves  that,  of  the  three  hemicycles  in  those 
apses,  the  central  one  contained  the  tribunal  or  episcopal 
chair,  the  one  on  the  right  the  sacred  implements,  the  one 
on  the  left  the  sacred  books. 

The  first  building  erected  in  Rome,  under  the  Christian 
rule,  for  the  study  and  preservation  of  books  and  documents 


188  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

was  the  Archivum  (Archives)  of  Pope  Damasus,  who  occu- 
pied the  chair  of  S.  Peter  between  366  and  384.  This 
just  and  enterprising  Pope,  the  last  representative  of  good 
old  Roman  traditions  as  regards  the  magnificence  and  use- 
fulness of  his  public  structures,  selected  for  the  site  of  his 
establishment  the  barracks  or  stables  of  the  factio  prasina, 
the  green  squadron  of  charioteers  and  riders  of  the  Circus 
Maximus,  and  modelled  it  on  the  pattern  of  the  typical 
library  at  Pergamon,  of  which  the  Palatine  library  of  Apollo 
in  Rome  had  been  the  worthy  rival.  He  began  by  raising 
a  basilica,  or  hall  of  basilical  type,  in  the  centre  of  the  area, 
which  he  dedicated  to  S.  Lawrence,  and  which  corresponds 
to  the  temple  of  Minerva  Polias  in  the  library  of  Pergamon, 
and  to  the  temple  of  Apollo  in  that  of  the  Palatine.  The 
hall  of  S.  Lawrence,  called  still  in  our  days  S.  Lorenzo  in 
Damaso,  or  in  Prasina,  was  surrounded  by  a  square  portico, 
into  which  opened  the  rooms  or  cells  containing  the  va- 
rious departments  of  the  archives  and  of  the  library. 

A  commemorative  inscription,  composed  by  Damasus 
himself,  in  hexameters,  seven  in  number,  and  engraved  on 
marble  by  the  skilful  hand  of  Furius  Dionysius  Philocalus, 
the  Pope's  calligraphus,  was  set  in  the  front  of  the  building, 
above  the  main  entrance.  The  text  has  been  discovered  in 
a  MS.  formerly  at  Heidelberg,  now  in  the  Vatican  (n.  833). 
The  first  four  hexameters  do  not  bring  out  in  a  good  light 
the  poetical  faculties  of  the  worthy  pontiff,  —  in  fact,  their 
real  meaning  has  not  yet  been  ascertained;  but  the  last 
three  verses  are  more  intelligible  :  — 

"  Archibis,  fateor,  volui  nova  condere  tecta ; 
Addere  praeterea  dextra  laevaque  columnas, 
Quae  Damasi  teneant  proprium  per  saecula  nomen." 

("I  have  erected  this  structure  for  the  archives  of  the 
Roman  church  ;  I  have  surrounded  it  with  porticoes  on 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  189 

either  side ;  and  I  have  given  to  it  my  name,  which  I  hope 
will  be  remembered  for  centuries.")  These  hopes  have  been 
splendidly  realized,  because,  as  I  have  already  remarked, 
the  church  of  S.  Lawrence  is  still  called  "  in  Damaso."  I 
may  add  that  around  the  apse  of  the  inner  hall  there  was 
another  distich  of  about  the  same  poetical  value,  the  text  of 
which  has  been  discovered  by  Commendatore  de  Rossi  in  a 
manuscript  at  Verdun  :  — 

"  Haec  Damasus  tibi,  Christe  deus,  nova  tecta  levavi 
Laurent!  saeptus  martyris  auxilio." 

("  With  the  help  of  S.  Lawrence  the  martyr  I  have  raised, 
Lord  Christ,  this  hall  in  Thine  honor.")  Mention  of 
Damasus's  archives  is  frequently  made  in  documents  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  The  official  comptes-rendus  of 
the  council  held  in  Rome  in  369,  together  with  the  auto- 
graph signatures  of  the  146  bishops  who  attended  the 
sittings,  were  certainly  deposited  in  them.  S.  Jerome  calls 
them  chartarium  ecclesice  Homance,  and  asserts  that  the 
epistles,  circulars,  decrees,  and  constitutions  of  the  popes, 
the  regesta  Pontificum,  as  they  were  called  in  later  ages, 
were  shown  to  everybody,  and  could  be  copied  on  applica- 
tion to  the  keeper-in-chief.  Among  those  who  have  con- 
sulted the  copious  documents  of  the  place,  we  can  mention, 
on  contemporary  evidence,  Pope  Boniface  I.  in  419  ;  Pope 
Innocent  I.  in  412 ;  and  the  members  of  the  Roman  synod 
of  531. 

I  need  not  say  that  the  library  of  Damasus  has  long  since 
disappeared.  The  first  blow  aimed  at  the  noble  institution 
came  from  the  centralization  at  the  Lateran  of  all  the  docu- 
ments connected  with  the  Church,  which  took  place  in  the 
seventh  century.  Finally  the  building  itself,  repaired  and 
probably  disfigured  from  time  to  time,  was  levelled  to 
the  ground,  four  hundred  years  ago  (1486)  by  Cardinal 


190  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

Raphael  Riario,  nephew  of  Sixtus  IV.  A  new  church  was 
then  built,  two  hundred  feet  east  of  the  Basilica  Damasi- 
ana,  and  incorporated  by  Riario  in  his  magnificent  Palazzo 
della  Cancelleria. 

Those  who  have  visited  Rome,  or  are  otherwise  acquainted 
with  its  prominent  buildings,  will  recollect,  I  am  sure,  the 
wonderful  court-yard  of  this  Palazzo  della  Cancelleria,  the 
chef  d'ceuvre  of  Bramante,  resting,  as  by  a  miracle  of  art, 
on  a  double  tier  of  light  columns  of  red  Egyptian  granite. 
These  are  the  very  columns  which  Pope  Damasus  carried 
from  Pompey's  theatre  to  his  library,  and  which  Cardinal 
Riario,  in  1486,  removed  from  the  library  to  his  palace. 

During  the  fifth  century  we  hear  no  more  of  literary 
institutions  in  Rome.  In  535,  however,  Cassiodorius  (com- 
monly miscalled  Cassiodorus),  then  prefect  of  the  Praeto- 
rium,  induced  Pope  Agapetus  to  institute  a  kind  of 
university  or  higher  school  for  Christian  teaching,  and  to 
connect  with  it  a  select  library.  Pope  Agapetus  yielded 
to  the  suggestion,  and  gave  up  for  the  new  institution  his 
own  paternal  house,  which  stood  on  the  Coelian,  on  the 
Clivus  Scauri,  the  modern  picturesque  Salita  dei  SS.  Gio- 
vanni e  Paolo.  The  library  was  placed  in  the  principal  hall 
of  the  house,  and  above  its  entrance  a  commemorative 
inscription  was  set  up,  the  text  of  which  has  been  trans- 
mitted to  us  by  the  author  of  the  well-known  "  Codex  of 
Einsiedlen,"  and  which  begins  as  follows :  "  Here  you  see 
assembled,  together  with  Agapetus,  the  founder  of  the 
library,  the  venerable  array  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
ready  to  explain  to  you  the  mystic  words  of  the  Scriptures." 

To  understand  the  meaning  of  this  sentence  we  must 
examine,  although  as  briefly  as  possible,  the  material  and 
practical  organization  of  Christian  libraries,  from  the  fall  of 
the  Empire  to  the  Renaissance  of  classical  studies. 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


191 


There  is  no  doubt  that  the  words  of  the  inscription  just 
quoted  refer  to  the  medallions  or  images  of  the  Fathers  of 
the  Church,  painted  on  the  frieze  of  the  cases  which  con- 
tained their  works.  This  praiseworthy  custom  is  of  very 
ancient  origin.  In  the  chapter  on  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars, 
I  have  mentioned  the  medallions  in  repousse  work  of  brass 
or  silver  which  ornamented  the  walls  of  the  famous  library 
of  Apollo.  But  without  resorting  to  the  testimony  of  an- 
cient authors,  who  very  often  allude  to  these  iconographic 
galleries  connected  with  public  or  private  libraries,  I  can 
draw  upon  my  own  experience,  and  describe  an  ancient 
private  library  which  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes.  I 
think  I  am  the  only  living  man  of  letters  who  can  boast  of 


Lararium,  or  private  chapel  discovered  in  the  Via  dello  Statute,  1883. 

having  been  favored  by  chance  with  such  rare  good  for- 
tune. The  discovery  took  place  in  December,  1883.  A 
new  road,  the  Via  dello  Statute,  was  then  in  course  of 


192 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


construction  between  the  Piazza  Vittorio  Emmanuele,  on 
the  Esquiline,  and  the  Via  Cavour,  in  the  Subura.    Not  far 


Srale  of 


Crypt  of  Mithras  discovered  in  the  Via  dello  Statute. 

from  the  northeast  corner  of  the  church  of  S.  Martino  ai 
Monti,  the  remains  of  a  private  house  began  to  appear  in 
the  trench,  of  which  house  some  apartments  were  in  the 
most  wonderful  state  of  preservation ;  others  had  been 
robbed  even  of  their  marble  and  mosaic  pavements.  To 
the  intact  portion  of  the  building  belongs  —  to  cite  only 
one  instance  —  the  lararium,  or  domestic  chapel,  and  the 
Mithrceum  (an  underground  cell,  in  which  the  secret  mys- 
teries of  Mithras  were  performed),  represented  in  the 
accompanying  plates.  In  the  chapel,  besides  the  statue  of 
Fortune,  occupying  the  place  d'honneur,  there  were  some 
seventeen  statuettes  and  busts  of  domestic  divinities  still 
standing  upright  on  the  side  shelves.  In  the  Mithrceum 
there  were — there  are  still,  because  we  have  saved  the  place 
from  destruction,  and  added  it  to  the  curiosities  of  Rome  — 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


193 


the  remnant  of  the  seven  torches,  that  is  to  say  of  sticks  of 
fir-wood  coated  with  tar,  which  were  kept  burning  before 
the  image  of  Mithras  Tauroktonos.  The  ruined  apart- 
ments, from  which 
no  more  discoveries 
were  expected,  and 
the  excavation  of 
which  we  did  not 
watch  with  the 
same  anxiety  as 
we  did  that  of  the 
others,  occupied  the 
northern  portion  of 
the  atrium,  and 
consisted  mostly  of 
bath-rooms.  I  was 
struck,  one  after- 
noon, with  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  ra- 
ther spacious  hall,  the  walls  of  which  were  plain  and  unor- 
namented  up  to  a  certain  height,  but  beautifully  decorated 
above  in  stucco  work.  The  decoration  consisted  of  fluted 
pilasters,  five  feet  apart  from  centre  to  centre,  enclosing 
a  plain  square  surface,  in  the  middle  of  which  there  were 
medallions,  also  in  stucco  work,  two  feet  in  diameter.  As 
always  happens  in  these  cases,  the  frame  was  the  only  well- 
preserved  portion  of  the  medallions.  Of  the  images  sur- 
rounded by  the  frames,  of  the  medallions  themselves,  ab- 
solutely nothing  was  left  in  situ  except  a  few  fragments 
piled  up  at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  which,  however,  could  be 
identified  as  having  been  representations  of  human  faces. 
My  hope  that  at  last,  after  fifteen  years  of  excavations,  I 
had  succeeded  in  discovering  a  library,  was  confirmed  be- 


MITHBAS  TAUROKTONOS. 
Marble  group  recently  discovered  on  the  Esquiline. 


194  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

yond  any  doubt  by  a  legend  written,  or  rather  painted, 
in  bright  red  color  on  one  of  the  frames.  There  was  but 
one  name, 

APOLLONIVS  THY  AN... 

but  this  name  told  more  plainly  the  purpose  of  the  apart- 
ment than  if  I  had  discovered  there  the  actual  book-shelves 
and  their  contents. 

The  form,  disposition,  and  ornamentation  of  book-shelves 
and  book-cases,  which  the  ancients  called  armaria,  are  weU 
known  from  the  authentic  description  we  possess  of  the 
library  of  S.  Isidorus  at  Hispalis.  This  library  was  divided 
into  classes  or  departments  of  geographv,  natural  philos- 
ophy, theology,  and  so  forth.  The  books  of  each  class 
were  neatly  arranged  in  separate  armaria,  on  the  frieze 
of  which  the  portraits  of  the  most  famous  authors  were 
painted,  together  with  an  epigram  explaining  what  the 
contents  of  the  armaria  were.  On  the  book-case  contain- 
ing works  on  law  there  were  the  portraits  of  the  famous 
jurisconsults  Gaius  and  Paul,  and  of  the  Emperor  Theo- 
dosius,  the  author  of  the  Codex  Theodosianus.  The  legend 
read  as  follows  :  — 

"  Conditur  hie  juris  series  amplissima  legum 
Veridico  latium  quae  regit  ore  forum." 

On  the  book-case  containing  historical  works  were  the  por- 
trait of  Eusebius  and  Orosius,  with  the  legend :  — 

"  Historias  rerum  et  transact!  tempora  saecli 
Condita  membranis  haec  simul  area  gerit." 

Likewise,  on  the  armarium  set  apart  for  works  on  medicine 
there  were  four  pictures  or  medallions,  representing  Hip- 
pocrates, Galenus  (misnamed  Gallienus),  and  the  brother 
saints  Cosmas  and  Damianus,  with  the  epigram  :  — 

"  Quos  claros  orbe  celebrat  medicina  magistros, 
Hos  praesens  pictos  signal  imago  viros." 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


195 


The  text  of  the  other  inscriptions  of  this  well-organized 
library  can  be  found  in  the  manuscript  formerly  at  Laure- 
sheim,  now  in  the  Vatican  (No.  1877).  It  appears  from 
what  I  have  said  that  the  founders  of  Christian  libra- 
ries in  Rome  and  elsewhere  followed  faithfully  the  clas- 


The  Vatican  Library,  showing  style  and  arrangement  of  book-cases  in  ancient  Rome. 

sic  prototypes,  not  only  in  the  general  architecture  of 
their  buildings,  but  also  in  the  minute  details  of  interior 
arrangement;  and  the  illustration  above  shows  the  force 
of  tradition  in  such  matters,  the  arrangement  of  the  Vat- 
ican library  to-day  being  precisely  that  of  the  ancients. 

The  portraits  of  learned  men  were  not  always  painted  on 
the  wood  of  the  cases  or  on  the  plaster  of  the  walls  ;  there 
was  an  endless  variety  of  arrangement.  In  a  letter  addressed 
to  Eucherius,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  by  Rusticus,  Bishop  of  Nar- 
bonne,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  mention  is 
made  of  a  library  in  which  Rusticus  himself  had  studied 


196  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

classic  literature  in  his  younger  years.  In  this  library, 
exclusively  devoted  scecularibus  litteris,  there  were  many 
portraits  of  orators  and  poets  in  mosaic  (expressa  lapillis], 
or  in  terra-cotta  (formata),  or  in  a  kind  of  pastel  (ceris 
discolor  ibus],  and  each  image  was  accompanied  by  a  bio- 
graphical inscription. 

But  the  ancients  by  no  means  confined  themselves  to 
simple  medallions,  in  their  desire  to  honor  the  memory  of 
learned  men ;  they  actually  set  up  life-size  statues  in  the 
vestibules  and  porticoes  of  their  libraries,  and  hermce  or 
busts  in  the  inner  halls.  The  taste  for  this  display  of 
literary  luxury  was  introduced  into  Rome  in  the  Augus- 
tan era,  by  Asinius  Pollio.  Asinius  Pollio  primus  Ro- 
mce  bibliothecas  publicavit  (graecam  atque  latinam)  ad- 
ditis  auctorum  imaginibus  in  atrio.  In  a  fragmentary 
inscription  discovered  by  Stevenson  at  Bolsena  four  years 
ago,  the  will  of  a  gentleman  is  praised,  who  had  be- 
queathed to  his  Volsinian  fellow-citizens  bibliothecam  cum 
libris  et  statuis,  with  the  books  and  statues.  Statues  and 
busts  that  have  belonged  to  libraries  can  easily  be  recog- 
nized, at  least  in  some  cases,  because  the  list  of  the  ceuvres 
completes  of  the  authors  they  represent  is  generally  en- 
graved on  the  base  of  the  bust,  or  on  the  plinth  of  the 
statue.  Monuments  of  this  kind,  such  as  the  famous  Eu- 
ripides of  the  villa  Albani,  have  been  illustrated  by  Ennio 
Quirino  Visconti  in  the  "  Iconografia  Greca,"  by  Winckel- 
mann  in  the  "  Monumenti  Inediti,"  and  quite  recently  by 
Comparetti  and  Di  Petra  in  their  volume  on  the  "  Villa  dei 
Pisoni  "  and  its  library. 

In  spite  of  the  decadence  of  art  and  refinement,  in  spite 
of  the  poverty  of  the  age,  the  Christians  followed  classic 
traditions  even  in  this  particular,  as  we  see  from  the  famous 
life-size  sitting  statue  of  S.  Hippolytus,  doctor  of  the  Church 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


197 


and  martyr,  on  the  plinth  of  which  the  catalogue  of  his 
works  is  engraved  in  minute  Greek  letters.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  document  has  always  been  considered  so  great 
that  when  in  1756  the  two  learned  brothers,  Stephen  Evo- 
dius  and  Joseph  Simon  Assemani,  by  order  of  Benedict 
XIV.,  published  the  first  volume  of  the  catalogue  of  the 
Vatican  library,  they  began  the  preface  with  the  list  of  S. 
Hippolytus,  considering  it  as  the  oldest  specimen  of  an 
index  of  sacred  literature. 

Books  were  not  placed  upright  on  the  shelves,  as  with 
us,  but  horizontally.  The  first  illumination  of  the  volume 
offered  by  the  Abbot  Ceolfridus  to  the  Holy  See  in  716,  now 
in  the  Biblioteca  Laurenziana  at  Florence,  of  which  book 
I  shall  speak  again  presently,  represents  an  armarium  with 
open  shutters,  and  with  the  books  lying  horizontally  on  the 
shelves.  The  same  particular  is  represented  in  one  of  the 
mosaics  of  S.  Apollinare  in  Classe  at  Ravenna. 


Church  and  house  of  S.  Gregory. 


198  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

I  have  mentioned  above  the  name  of  Cassiodorius  as  the 
one  who  suggested  to  Pope  Agapetus  the  establishment  of 
a  Christian  university  on  the  Crelian,  an  institution  which 
was  enlarged  and  improved  by  S.  Gregory  the  Great,  and 
which  has  in  a  certain  measure  come  down  to  our  age,  as 
the  library  of  the  convent  of  S.  Gregorio  at  Monte  Celio. 
Tired  of  his  political  career,  Cassiodorius  left  the  wicked 
world  in  536,  and  retired  to  one  of  the  most  secluded  spots 
in  Calabria,  to  devote  himself  to  monastic  lif  e ;  I  ought  to 
say,  rather,  to  devote  himself  to  his  passion  for  rare  books 
and  well-organized  libraries.  The  one  he  founded  in  his 
Calabrian  monastery  of  Vivarium  is  spoken  of  so  frequently 
and  so  passionately  in  his  book,  "  De  Institutione  Divina- 
rum  Litterarum,"  that  we  know  every  particular  connected 
with  it.  I  shall  mention  one  or  two. 

In  the  first  place,  great  care  and  taste  were  displayed  in 
binding  the  volumes;  a  body  of  docti  artifices,  clever 
bookbinders,  was  attached  to  the  establishment,  and  a  col- 
lection of  models  and  specimens  was  placed  at  their  disposi- 
tion for  instruction. 

In  the  second  place,  some  wonderful  lamps  were  contrived 
for  the  assistance  of  students  and  copyists  in  their  nocturnal 
work.  Cassiodorius  describes  them  as  mechanicas  lucernas 
qtice,  humano  ministerio  cessante,  prolixe  custodirent  uber- 
rimi  luminis  clariiatem  (mechanical  lamps,  which,  even 
when  left  entirely  to  themselves,  would  continue  to  shine 
brilliantly  for  many  hours),  —  lamps,  I  suppose,  built  on  the 
moderateur  or  "  Carcel "  principle. 

In  the  third  place,  the  library  was  furnished  with  sun- 
dials and  clepsydrae,  horologium  solare  and  aquatile,  to 
regulate  the  hours  of  study  and  work  by  day  or  night,  in 
clear  or  cloudy  weather. 

Lastly,  a  large  staff  of  amanuenses  and  copyists,  called 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  199 

antiquarii  in  classical  times,  was  kept  at  work  without 
interruption,  like  the  printing  departments  of  our  libraries. 
A.  Reiffersheid  shows,  in  a  pamphlet  published  at  Bres- 
lau  in  1882,  what  an  incredible  number  of  books  was  put 
in  circulation  by  Cassiodorius  at  Vivarium,  and  by  his 
friend  Eugippius  at  the  ccenobium  Lucullianum,  near 
Naples.  Their  joint  literary  productions  and  copies  of 
first-rate  books  inundated  not  only  lower  and  central  Italy, 
but  even  the  African  bishoprics,  as  proved  by  the  epistles  of 
S.  Fulgentius  to  Eugippius. 

As  to  catalogues,  in  the  strict  modern  sense  of  the  word, 
we  know  they  must  have  existed,  but  we  have  no  positive 
evidence  about  them,  except,  perhaps,  the  unique  passage 
in  the  ninth  chapter  of  Seneca  "  De  Tranquillitate,"  in 
which  he  mentions  v aluminum  frontes,  frontispieces;  titu- 
los,  titles ;  and  bibliothecarum  indices,  real  catalogues.  The 
titles,  as  Cicero  describes  them,  were  beautifully  illuminated 
on  a  small  piece  of  parchment,  and  pasted  on  the  back  of 
the  volume.  The  oldest  catalogue  of  a  Christian  library  is 
that  inserted  by  Eusebius  in  the  third  book  of  the  life  of 
Pamphilus.  Others,  anterior  to  the  thirteenth  century,  have 
been  quite  recently  collected  and  edited  at  Bonn  by  Profes- 
sor Gustav  Becker,  beginning  with  the  catalogue  of  the  Fon- 
tanelles  library,  written  in  745.  The  series  of  Professor 
Becker,  although  numbering  136  catalogues,  is  far  from 
complete,  and  many  important  documents  have  escaped  his 
attention.  Such  are,  for  instance,  the  index  of  books  of- 
fered to  the  church  of  S.  Clement  in  Rome,  engraved  on  a 
marble  slab  in  the  vestibule  of  the  church  itself  ;  the  cata- 
logue of  the  Cluny  library,  the  first  divided  according  to 
subjects ;  those  of  Anchin  and  Puy,  the  first  in  which  books 
are  regularly  numbered,  and  so  forth.  But,  as  the  proverb 
says,  facile  est  inventis  addere. 


200  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

An  interesting  paper  might  be  written  on  the  exchange 
of  manuscripts  between  Rome  and  the  newly  converted 

inhabitants  of  remote  provinces, 
especially  those  of  Anglo-Saxon 
countries.  In  601,  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great  sent  to  S.  Austin,  then 
preaching  the  gospel  in  the  British 
Isles,  plurimos  codices,  of  which 
only  two  seem  to  have  come  down 

to  us,  namely,  the  two  evangeliaria  preserved,  one  in  the 
Cambridge,  one  in  the  Bodleian,  library.  Wanley,  West- 
wood,  Goodwin,  and  Garrucci  agree  in  recognizing  these 
two  volumes  as  unique,  rather  than  rare,  specimens  of  the 
sixth-century  palaeography.  There  is  a  third  volume,  which 
has  long  been  considered  as  belonging  to  the  set  sent  by 
Gregory  to  S.  Austin,  a  psalterium  now  in  the  British 
Museum  library,  described  on  p.  8,  Part  II.,  of  the  catalogue 
printed  in  1884.  Bond,  Thompson,  Warner,  and  Delisle, 
however,  have  proved  beyond  dispute  that  the  volume 
must  have  been  written  by  an  Anglo-Saxon  amanuensis, 
towards  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  and  is,  accordingly, 
two  hundred  years  younger  than  the  evangeliaria  of  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge. 

Demands  for  books  from  the  Gallic,  Spanish,  and  Alexan- 
drine churches  were  not  only  taken  into  consideration  at 
Rome,  but  granted  as  liberally  as  the  resources  of  the  ar- 
chives and  library  of  the  Holy  See  would  permit.  Apostles 
and  missionaries,  sowing  the  good  seed,  especially  in  the 
northern  regions  of  Europe,  would  constantly  beg  for  copies 
of  the  sacred  books.  In  649,  Amandus,  Bishop  of  Trajec- 
tum,  sent  a  messenger  to  Pope  Martin  I.  to  obtain  du- 
plicates from  the  pontifical  library.  The  answer  of  the 
Pope  was  :  "  Our  library  is  absolutely  exhausted,  and  we 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  201 

could  not  give  your  messenger  a  single  duplicate.  We 
authorized  him,  however,  to  transcribe  and  copy  some  of 
them  himself,  but  he  left  Rome  in  a  hurry."  The  reason 
why  no  duplicates  could  be  obtained  is  evident.  In  649, 
the  great  Roman  Council  was  assembled,  and  all  available 
copies  in  the  library  had  been  distributed  among  the  bish- 
ops, to  help  them  in  their  inquiries  about  the  heresy  of  the 
Monothelites. 

The  founders  of  monasteries  in  England  showed  a  real 
passion  for  books  and  libraries,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
seventh  century  they  did  not  spare  time,  labor,  or  money 
in  securing  rare  manuscripts  from  Rome.  Bede,  in  his 
biographies  of  abbots,  relates  how  one  of  them,  named 
Benedict  or  Biscopus,  travelled  the  whole  distance  to  Rome 
not  less  than  five  times  between  the  years  653  and  684,  for 
the  purpose  of  increasing  the  literary  supply  of  his  abbey. 
And  if  we  consider  how  difficult,  fatiguing,  disagreeable, 
and  even  dangerous  a  journey  between  the  British  Islands 
and  Italy  must  have  been  in  those  days  of  anarchy  and 
barbarism,  we  can  appreciate  the  intensity  of  Benedict's 
passion  for  beautiful  and  costly  volumes.  From  his  third 
pilgrimage,  in  671,  he  brought  back  a  set  of  theological 
works  vel  pretio  emptos  vel  dono  largitos,  bought  of 
copyists  or  received  as  presents ;  on  his  fourth  journey,  in 
678,  he  increased  his  collection  with  an  "innumerable 
quantity  of  books  in  literature ;  "  whereas  the  fifth  journey 
was  devoted  again  to  the  purchase  of  sacred  and  theological 
treatises.  Even  on  his  death-bed  he  could  think  of  nothing 
but  his  library,  and  his  last  words  were  of  earnest  en- 
treaty to  his  successor  to  preserve  and  enlarge  his  copio- 
sissima  et  nobilissima  bibliotheca,  of  which  the  chef 
cTceuvre  seems  to  have  been  a  codex  of  geography,  mi- 
randi  operis,  of  marvellous  workmanship,  bought,  like  the 
others,  in  Rome. 


202  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

The  library  contained  also  a  valuable  collection  of  pic- 
tures, of  holy  images,  as  Bede  says,  purchased  during  the 
fourth  and  fifth  journeys.  The  most  noticeable  was  a  set 
of  illustrations  representing  the  concordia  veteris  et  novi 
testamenti,  the  harmony  between  the  old  and  the  new  tes- 
taments :  for  instance,  Isaac  carrying  on  his  shoulder  the 
fagots  for  his  immolation,  and  our  Lord  carrying  the  cross 
for  his  crucifixion.  This  is,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  ear- 
liest, or  at  least  one  of  the  earliest,  records  of  a  Bible  illus- 
trated with  parallel  pictures  from  both  testaments.  These 
Bibles,  popularized  at  first  by  the  work  of  hand  and  pen- 
cil, later  on  by  the  help  of  wood-cuts,  are  better  known 
under  the  name  of  Biblice  pauperum. 

Rome  was  the  centre  of  this  sort  of  literary  and  artistic 
industry ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  earliest  fresco- 
paintings  in  Anglo-Saxon  churches  and  cloisters,  repre- 
senting Christ,  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  Apostles,  and  so  forth, 
were  copied  from  models  sent  from  Rome.  To  this  class  of 
original  drawings  belongs  the  codex  of  Cambridge,  already 
mentioned,  splendidly  ornamented  with  illustrations  of  evan- 
gelical history,  designed  in  Rome. 

The  successor  of  Benedict,  named  Ceolfrid,  shared  his 
passion  for  valuable  manuscripts.  He  brought  over  from 
Italy  a  "  pandect "  of  the  sacred  text,  of  which  he  ordered 
three  copies  to  be  made ;  and,  being  already  far  advanced 
in  years,  he  undertook  another  journey  to  Rome  to  offer  to 
the  library  of  the  Holy  See  the  best  of  the  three  copies. 
Death  overtaking  him,  near  Lyons,  in  the  spring  of  716, 
his  disciples  and  followers  pursued  the  journey,  and  pre- 
sented the  precious  volume,  containing  the  translation  of  S. 
Jerome,  to  the  Pope.  The  volume  still  exists ;  it  is  pre- 
served in  the  Biblioteca  Laurenziana  at  Florence,  to  which 
it  was  carried  from  the  monastery  of  Monte  Amiata. 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 


203 


There  is  no  doubt  that  the  direct  descent  of  Roman 
libraries  and  the  transmission  of  classic  and  religious  books 
from  age  to  age,  from  generation  to  generation,  can  be  fol- 
lowed uninterruptedly  from  the  fall  of  the  Empire  down  to 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  We  do  not  know  how 


Remains  of  the  Turris  Cartnlaria. 

long  the  great  library  and  central  archives  of  Pope  Damasus 
existed  as  a  special  and  individual  institution ;  we  know, 
however,  that  as  early  as  the  eighth  century  the  Lateran 
pontifical  palace  became  the  centre  of  the  literary,  histor- 
ical, and  religious  libraries  and  archives  belonging  to  the 
Holy  See.  There  they  remained  undisturbed  until  the  tenth 
century,  in  the  course  of  which  the  most  precious  documents 
were  transferred  to  a  stronghold,  especially  built  for  the 
purpose,  in  the  Turris  Cartularia,  a  massive  tower,  to  which 
the  triumphal  arch  of  Titus  served  as  a  buttress.1 

The  only  means  we  possess    of   following   the  life  and 

1  This  Turris  Cartularia,  or  "  Tower  What  remains  of  its  foundations  is 
of  the  Archives,"  was  dismantled  at  represented  in  the  accompanying 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  illustration. 


204  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME. 

vicissitudes  of  this  invaluable  collection  of  sacred  and  classic 
books,  in  an  age  the  history  of  which  is  absolutely  obscure 
and  fragmentary,  are  the  regesta  Pontificum ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  collection  of  official  documents,  epistles,  constitu- 
tions, and  canons  issued  by  each  Pope.  The  regesta  are 
known  to  have  existed,  as  a  complete  series  and  without  any 
interruption,  from  the  remotest  ages  down  to  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  Honorius  III.,  who  died  in  1227, 
is  the  very  last  Pope  who  saw  the  volumes,  who  studied 
them  carefully,  and  who  makes  express  mention  of  them. 
None  of  his  successors,  so  far  as  we  can  discover,  mentions 
the  library  and  the  archives  as  an  existing  institution. 

Not  one  of  the  volumes,  of  the  documents,  of  the  re- 
gesta, belonging  to  the  incomparable  collection  formerly  in 
the  buildings  of  Damasus,  then  in  the  Lateran,  and  lastly 
in  the  Turris  Cartularia,  has  escaped  destruction,  —  not  one 
has  come  down  to  us  !  Before  the  present  learned  and 
enterprising  pontiff,  Leo  XIII.,  threw  open  to  everybody  the 
secret  archives  of  the  Vatican,  many  of  us  believed  that 
the  long-lost  documents  might  be  discovered  there,  in  that 
mysterious  den,  which  was  inexorably  closed  to  scholars, 
from  the  time  of  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  to  the  time  of  Pope 
Pius  IX.  Our  expectation  has  been  completely  disap- 
pointed :  not  a  trace,  not  a  particle,  of  the  old  collection 
has  been  found  as  yet,  and  most  likely  none  ever  will  be. 
Therefore  we  are  forced  to  believe  that  the  catastrophe  by 
which  the  collection  was  destroyed,  and  by  which  the  link 
connecting  modern  with  ancient  libraries  was  severed, 
must  have  taken  place  soon  after  the  death  of  Pope  Ho- 
norius III. ;  but  we  are  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  precise 
date,  the  nature,  the  details,  of  the  catastrophe.  The  only 
plausible  explanation  which  we  can  offer  is  to  be  found 
in  the  history  of  the  Turris  Cartularia  itself.  This  strong- 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES   OF  ROME.  205 

hold,  built  by  the  Frangipani  family,  as  a  detached  work 
of  their  Palatine  headquarters,  and  used  by  the  Popes  as 
a  safe  receptacle  for  their  state  documents,  was  handed 
over  to  the  imperial  faction  in  1244.  Its  contents  were 
doubtless  burnt,  or  otherwise  destroyed,  out  of  spite  and 
revenge  towards  the  Popes  and  their  faithful  supporters, 
the  Frangipani  family. 


CHAPTER  VHI. 

THE  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANCIENT  ROME. 

AMONG  the  many  points  of  resemblance  which  one  dis- 
covers in  comparing  the  leading  features  of  life  in  ancient 
Rome  and  modern  London,  that  concerning  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  police  is  perhaps  the  most  striking.  Regular 
troops,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  infantry  as  well 
as  cavalry,  were  not  allowed  to  take  up  permanent  quar- 
ters in  Rome,  and  so  are  they  excluded  from  London ; 
they  were  garrisoned  within  a  certain  distance  of  the  me- 
tropolis, ready  to  answer  any  sudden  call  in  case  of  extraor- 
dinary emergencies.  The  only  bodies  of  troops  tolerated 
in  Rome  were  those  attached  to  the  person  and  to  the 
special  service  of  the  emperor :  the  praetorian  guard,  cor- 
responding to  our  European  gardes  imperiales  et  royales, 
and  a  few  select  horsemen,  called  in  ancient  times  equites 
singular  es ;  in  modern,  cent -gardes,  or  horse -guards,  or 
cuirassiers  du  roi.  These  men,  however,  praetorians  as 
well  as  equites  singulares,  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
maintenance  of  public  order ;  in  fact,  they  were  decidedly 
against  it,  and  their  barracks  were  nothing  but  hot-beds  of 
disturbance  and  riot.  The  protection  of  the  great  metrop- 
olis was  intrusted  to  a  select  body  of  constables,  7,500  in 
number  ;  a  number  which  corresponds  very  well  to  the  9,000 
policemen  of  modern  London.  The  only  difference  in  the 
organization  of  the  two  bodies  is  that  the  Roman  vigiles  — 
this  was  their  official  name  —  had  to  perform  at  the  same 
time  the  duties  of  firemen  and  policemen ;  and  neither  duty 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  207 

was  a  sinecure,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  course  of  the  pres- 
ent chapter. 

Ancient  Rome  has  never  enjoyed  a  good  name  for  its 
respect  of  private  property  and  the  personal  security  of 
citizens.  The  principal  cause  of  disorder  is  to  be  found 
in  the  almost  incomprehensible  fact  that  the  metropolis,  in 
which  all  the  wealth,  luxury,  and  comfort  of  the  world  was 
concentrated,  was  kept  in  perfect  darkness  at  night !  How 
this  could  have  happened  in  such  a  civilized  age  —  why 
the  plain,  simple  idea  of  a  system  of  public  illumination 
was  not  conceived  and  adopted  —  is  a  mystery  hard  to 
solve.  Yet  excavations  at  Pompeii,  Ostia,  and  other  well- 
preserved  antique  cities  fully  confirm  the  fact.  Not  a  trace 
of  a  bracket  fixed  to  the  front  of  a  house,  or  of  a  rope 
or  small  chain  drawn  across  the  street  to  support  lamps  or 
lanterns,  has  as  yet  been  found,  and  probably  none  ever  will 
be.  People  took  advantage  of  moonlight  when  the  moon 
illuminated  the  streets ;  but  during  quite  half  of  the  year, 
and  when  the  silvery  satellite  was  veiled  by  clouds,  they 
made  use  of  lanterns,  the  frame  of  which  was  generally 
of  bronze,  the  other  part  of  glass,  or  of  thin  plates  of  horn, 
or  of  oiled  linen.  People  of  the  lower  classes  carried  lan- 
terns themselves ;  gentlemen  and  noblemen  were  preceded 
in  their  nocturnal  strolls  by  a  valet  or  slave,  called  by 
Cicero  laternarius,  and  by  Suetonius  servus  prcelucens, 
who  lighted  their  path,  sometimes  with  a  lantern,  sometimes 
with  a  torch. 

In  consequence  of  this  state  of  things,  as  soon  as  the 
twilight  had  vanished,  shopmen  and  merchants  were  obliged, 
for  safety,  to  lock  up  their  premises ;  and  the  solitary 
streets,  plunged  in  darkness,  wore  a  sinister  look,  and  be- 
came dangerous  for  the  passer-by.  The  shop  and  house 
doors  were  closed  in  a  very  ingenious  way,  inwards  or 


208  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

outwards,  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  case.  The 
doors  were  composed  of  three  or  four  pieces  of  solid  board, 
sometimes  of  a  double  thickness,  and  these  pieces  were 
made  to  slide,  one  after  the  other,  in  a  groove  made  for  the 
purpose  in  the  threshold  and  the  architrave ;  then  a  cross- 
bolt,  the  two  ends  of  which  were  inserted  in  hollows  sunk 
in  both  the  door-posts,  was  drawn  from  the  inside.  When 
the  door  was  opened  and  fastened  from  the  outside,  locks 
and  keys  were  made  use  of,  the  arrangement  of  which  is 
now  perfectly  well  known,  since  Giuseppe  Fiorelli,  formerly 
director  of  excavations  at  Pompeii,  and  now  general  direc- 
tor of  antiquities  in  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  conceived  the 
happy  idea  of  taking  plaster  casts  of  the  impressions  left 
by  Pompeian  doors  on  the  soft  volcanic  ashes  under  which 
that  lovely  city  was  buried. 

So  precarious  were  the  conditions  of  public  security  in 
Rome,  and  so  great  the  audacity  of  burglars,  that  even 
windows  were  locked  at  night,  as  described  by  Pliny  the 
elder,  or  else  protected  by  railings,  —  a  custom  which  has 
prevailed  down  to  our  own  age,  and  which  gives  to  the 
stately  palaces  of  modern  Rome  the  aspect  of  prisons.  I 
need  not  say  that  house-doors  were  watched  day  and  night, 
especially  at  night,  by  the  ostiarius,  or  janitor,  who  carried 
a  staff  in  his  hands.  The  janitor,  generally  assisted  by  a 
dog,  could  be  called  from  the  outside  by  ringing  a  bell. 
In  early  times,  and  even  during  the  Empire,  although  an 
exception  to  the  ordinary  rule,  the  attendance  of  the  janitor 
was  sometimes  secured  by  fastening  him  by  a  chain  to  the 
entrance.  All  these  precautions  were  not  deemed  super- 
fluous for  the  protection  of  private  property. 

Rome  and  the  Campagna  have  been  afflicted,  from  time 
immemorial,  by  two  plagues,  mendicity  and  brigandage, 
which  after  having  infected  the  district  with  more  or  less 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 


209 


violence  for  nearly  twenty  centuries,  have  been  finally 
thoroughly  extirpated  by  the  Italian  national  government, 
and  relegated  to  a  place  among  the  legends  of  the  past. 

Mendicity  was  practised  at  certain  definite  points  as  a 
means  of  dragging  out  an  idle  existence.  In  the  city,  beg- 
gars haunted  chiefly  the  bridges  and  the  gates ;  that  is  to 
say,  they  haunted  places  the  narrowness  of  which  would 
sometimes  stop,  and  always  slacken,  traffic,  and  expose  pass- 
ers-by to  the  full  importunity  and  impudence  of  the  brother- 
hood. For  the  same  reason  they  took  up  their  abode  on  the 
clivi,  or  steep  ascents  of  public  roads  in  the  Campagna,  where 
they  were  sure  that  even  the  fastest  horses  and  the  lightest 
carriages  would  be  obliged  to  slacken  their  speed.  Famous 
amongst  all  was  the  Clivus  Aricinus,  a  steep  gradient  of 
the  Appian  Way,  just  outside  the  gates  of  Aricia,  fifteen 
miles  from  Rome,  which  is  represented  below.  On  this 


The  Clivus  Aricinus.     Showing  the  viaduct  built  by  Pius  IX.  1852. 

ill-famed  slope  swarms  of  filthy  professional  beggars  used 
to  take  up  their  station,  to  tax  the  benevolence  of  travel- 
lers with  their  importunities.  They  actually  followed  riders 
and  drivers  up  the  hill,  harassing  them  with  their  vocif- 
erations, until  the  victims,  to  rescue  themselves  from  such 
a  persecution,  would  throw  a  handful  of  coins  among  the 


210  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

dirty  crew,  which  ransom  would  make  them  stop  and  fight 
one  another,  and  leave  the  traveller  alone.  On  these  occa- 
sions wonders  could  be  seen,  —  the  blind  recovering  eye- 
sight, the  crippled  and  paralytic  recovering  the  use  of  their 
limbs,  and  the  like,  —  scenes  and  incidents  which  the  trav- 
eller in  modern  Spain,  or  in  Italy  of  fifteen  years  ago,  has 
certainly  witnessed. 

As  regards  the  exploits  of  robbers,  highwaymen,  and 
brigands,  accounts  have  been  left  by  ancient  writers,  and 
are  sometimes  engraved  on  the  tombstones  of  the  victims. 
Travelling  on  the  great  consular  roads  of  Italy  was  always 
made  disagreeable  by  publicans,  or  toll  and  octroi  collec- 
tors, and  by  innkeepers  insatiable  of  undue  gain,  and  some- 
times made  dangerous  on  account  of  the  precarious  con- 
ditions of  public  security.  There  were  regular  associations 
of  brigands  in  central  and  southern  Italy,  and  also  in  Sar- 
dinia, against  which  the  Emperor  Tiberius  dispatched  bands 
of  Jews,  who  had  received  military  drill,  hoping  that  the 
two  contending  parties  would  destroy  each  other.  The 
geographer  Strabo  mentions  other  such  associations  as 
flourishing  in  Corsica,  Pamphylia,  and  Pisidia.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  state  of  things,  timid  or  prudent  travellers 
were  obliged  to  place  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  escort  accompanying  distinguished  magistrates,  ambas- 
sadors, governors,  proconsuls,  and  other  public  officials. 

In  Italy,  the  greatest  insecurity  prevailed,  as  a  rule,  at 
the  end  of  civil  wars.  Even  the  short  journey  from  Rome 
to  Tibur  was  at  times  extremely  insecure.  Augustus,  at 
the  very  beginning  of  his  reign,  attempted  to  stop  the  evil, 
and  covered  the  whole  Empire  with  a  network  of  military 
and  police  stations,  the  number  of  which  was  largely  in- 
creased by  Tiberius,  his  successor  to  the  throne.  The  high- 
waymen caught  by  these  patrols  were  executed  on  the  spot, 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  211 

without  ceremony,  or  else  were  held  prisoners  to  be  devoured 
by  wild  beasts  at  the  next  show  in  the  amphitheatre.  The 
audacity  of  these  men  was  such  that  sometimes  they  would 
ride  to  the  very  gates  of  the  city,  and  make  there  a  razzia 
of  horses  and  beasts  of  burden.  The  Pontine  marshes 
and  the  dense  forest  near  Cumae,  called  the  Silva  Galli- 
naria,  were  considered  the  most  dangerous  of  all  to  cross. 
Juvenal  says  that  the  expeditions  sent,  under  extraordinary 
circumstances,  to  chase  the  brigands  from  their  haunts  suc- 
ceeded in  restoring  security  for  the  time  being;  but  as 
soon  as  the  troops  were  withdrawn  the  hydra  would  again 
raise  its  head.  The  disturbances  which  usually  followed  the 
election  of  an  emperor  always  caused  a  revival  of  brigand- 
age. When  Septimius  Severus,  in  his  general  reform  of 
the  Roman  military  system,  caused  the  praetorian  soldiers, 
or  body-guard,  to  be  drafted  from  the  provinces  watered 
by  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  instead  of  Italy,  as  had  been 
done  before,  Italian  youths,  inclined  naturally  to  military 
life,  gave  themselves  up  to  brigandage,  as  a  means  of  en- 
joying their  favorite  sport  of  war.  The  disaffection  of  the 
younger  generation,  thus  neglected  by  Septimius  Severus, 
reached  such  a  point  that  an  intrepid  chief,  Felix  Bulla, 
succeeded  in  putting  the  whole  of  Italy  to  ransom  for  two 
years,  crossing  it  from  end  to  end  and  from  sea  to  sea,  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  six  hundred  brigands.  Betrayed, 
finally,  by  the  woman  he  loved,  he  was  caught  by  the 
police,  and  ended  his  adventurous  career  in  the  arena, 
devoured  by  wild  beasts,  amidst  the  applause  of  a  num- 
berless multitude. 

Ancient  epitaphs  very  often  speak  of  persons  murdered 
in  encounters  with  brigands.  I  have  described  in  the  third 
chapter  the  assault  committed  by  Mauritanian  robbers  on 
Nonius  Datus,  an  officer  of  the  engineers  of  the  third  legion, 


212  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

on  his  way  from  Lambaese  to  Saldse.  A  tombstone  discov- 
ered near  Oteyza,  Spain,  spea*ks  of  the  murder  of  a  Roman 
knight,  only  twenty  years  of  age,  named  Cactus.  Another, 
discovered  on  the  bank  of  the  Danube,  commemorates  L. 
Julius  Bassus,  president  of  the  town  council  of  Drobeta,  and 
qusestor,  interfectus  a  latronibus.  His  death  was  avenged 
by  a  brother,  named  Julius  Valerianus.  Three  sons,  like- 
wise, in  an  inscription  discovered  in  the  same  province  of 
Moasia,  state  that  they  had  revenged  the  murder  of  their 
mother.  The  most  interesting  of  these  epitaphs,  however,  is 
an  inscription  discovered  sixteen  years  ago,  near  the  farm 
of  La  Magliana,  six  miles  from  Rome,  on  the  high  road  to 
Porto.  This  tombstone,  which  belongs  to  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century  of  our  era,  describes  how  a  schoolmaster, 
named  Julius  Timotheus,  only  twenty-eight  years  old,  and 
held  in  high  estimation  in  Rome,  having  gone  out  for  an 
excursion  on  the  Via  Campana  with  seven  of  his  pupils,  fell 
into  an  ambush,  and  was  murdered  by  the  thieves,  together 
with  his  young  companions.  This  wholesale  slaughter,  ac- 
complished almost  within  sight  of  the  walls,  and  on  the  line 
of  the  great  traffic  between  Rome  and  its  harbor  (Portus 
Augusti),  must  have  created  an  intense  excitement  in  the 
capital,  and  must  have  given  occasion  to  some  extraordinary 
measures  towards  the  extirpation  of  the  evil,  inasmuch  as 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find,  either  in  books  or  in  inscrip- 
tions, any  further  accounts  of  acts  of  brigandage,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Rome,  after  the  beginning  of  the  third 
century. 

Another  source  of  annoyance,  and,  in  some  cases,  of  real 
personal  danger,  came  from  meeting,  in  the  dark  streets, 
parties  of  fashionable  youths  returning  home  from  a  late 
debauch.  Woe  to  the  peaceful  and  unoffending  father  of 
a  family,  who  chanced  to  meet  one  of  these  drunken  par- 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  213 

ties  in  the  darkness  !  The  poor  man  was  insulted,  beaten, 
wounded,  and  occasionally  his  clothes  were  torn  off,  so  that 
he  would  have  remained  exposed  to  the  full  violence  of 
the  winter  frost'. 

One  peculiarity  of  ancient  Rome,  common,  I  dare  say,  to 
all  large  capitals  not  belonging  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
was  the  perfect  accordance  of  all  classes  of  citizens  in  evad- 
ing, as  much  as  they  could,  police  regulations :  for  instance, 
those  concerning  the  protection  of  passers  from  the  fall  of 
tiles  and  flower-pots,  the  free  use  of  the  city  streets,  and  the 
proper  construction  of  scaffoldings  and  new  structures  of 
every  kind.  That  citizens  were  seriously  injured  and  even 
killed  by  the  accidental  fall  of  pots  from  window-gardens, 
and  of  tiles  from  roofs  not  kept  in  proper  order,  is  a  fact 
positively  asserted  by  Juvenal  and  Gaius.  I  shall  describe 
in  the  tenth  chapter  the  obstructions  which  made  traffic 
almost  impossible  in  the  narrow  and  tortuous  streets  of 
Rome,  in  spite  of  edicts  promulgated  by  the  magistrates 
to  stop  this  evil.  As  regards  accidents  occasioned  by  the 
fall  of  scaffoldings  and  of  hurriedly-built  structures,  I 
shall  quote  one  instance,  which  is  connected,  besides,  with 
another  source  of  public  disturbances  and  riots,  —  the  in- 
sane passion  of  the  populace  for  races  and  jockeys,  and  for 
special  horses  and  special  jockeys,  a  passion  which  often 
brought  on  bloody  encounters. 

Before  the  reign  of  Domitian,  the  agitatores  circenses,  or 
charioteers  of  the  circus,  a  state  institution,  magnificently 
lodged,  fed,  and  endowed,  were  divided  into  four  squadrons 
or  factions,  named  albata,  prasina,  russata,  and  veneta, 
from  the  white,  green,  red,  or  blue  color  of  the  caps  and 
jackets  of  their  champions.  Domitian  increased  the  num- 
ber of  squadrons  to  six,  by  the  addition  of  the  factio  au- 
rata,  the  "  golden,"  and  of  the  factio  purpurea,  the  "  pur- 


214  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

pie,"  organized  and  supported  from  the  inexhaustible  re- 
sources of  the  privy  purse.  The  first  bad  example  of  fa- 
naticism for  a  special  squadron  or  color  was  set  by  the 
emperors  themselves.  Tacitus  says  that  Vitellius  put  the 
care  of  riders  before  that  of  the  government.  Caligula  was 
such  an  ardent  partisan  and  supporter  of  the  squadron  of 
the  greens  that  he  spent  the  greater  portion  of  his  time  in 
their  stables,  rioting  with  them  until  a  late  hour  of  the 
night.  Sometimes  one  squadron  would  remain  popular  and 
enjoy  the  favor  and  partiality  of  the  turbulent  crowds  for 
a  period  of  several  years.  From  the  time  of  Caligula  to 
the  end  of  the  empire  of  Hadrian,  the  greens  always  main- 
tained supremacy,  never  losing  the  confidence  and  affection 
of  the  public.  This  fact  makes  us  understand  better  the 
following  passage  in  the  ninth  satire  of  Juvenal :  "  The 
whole  of  Rome  has  flocked  to  the  circus  to-day,  and  the  up- 
roar of  the  crowd  can  be  heard  miles  away.  I  understand 
from  this  that  the  greens  have,  as  usual,  won  the  day; 
otherwise  I  should  see  the  city  in  deep  mourning,  just  as 
if  the  consuls  had  been  slain  over  again  in  the  battle-field 
of  Cannae."  With  good  reason  Juvenal  himself  asserts  that 
one  jockey  alone  could  make  in  a  short  time  one  hundred- 
fold the  income  of  a  celebrated  lawyer,  —  Centura  patri- 
monia  causidicorum. 

They  amassed  their  prodigious  fortunes  in  two  ways: 
first,  by  getting  the  prizes  established  for  the  different  races ; 
secondly,  by  taking  their  share  in  betting,  and,  I  dare  say, 
by  conspiring  with  book-makers.  On  May  20,  1878,  we 
discovered,  not  far  from  the  stables  of  the  green  squadron 
at  S.  Lorenzo  in  Damaso  (in  prasina),  a  pedestal  dedicated 
to  a  jockey  of  African  extraction,  named  Crescens.  Ac- 
cording to  the  inscription  on  this  pedestal,  Crescens,  when 
only  twenty-two  years  old,  had  already  gained  1,558,346 


^^••••••••••••a^HBBMMM 


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o 


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POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 


215 


sestertii,  a  sum  equal  to  $65,000.  The  greatest  of  Roman 
jockeys,  the  William  Archer  of  classic  times,  the  famous 
Diocles,  left  to  his  son  a  fortune  of  35,863,120  sestertii, 
equivalent  to  $1,250,000. 

Horses  were  not  less  beloved  than  their  riders.  Inscrip- 
tions, mosaic  pictures,  bronzes,  frescoes,  have  not  only  per- 
petuated their  names  and  valiant  deeds,  but  have  trans- 
mitted to  us  even  their  effigies.  Here  is  a  copy  of  the 
precious  mosaic  discovered  near  Gerona,  Spain,  in  1884, 
representing  a  chariot- 
race,  with  the  names  of 
the  champions  inscribed 
near  each  group  of  run- 
ners. The  four  thor- 
oughbreds with  which 
the  young  Crescens  won 
his  first  race  were  called 
Circius,  Acceptor,  Deli- 
catus,  Cotinus.  In  de- 
stroying the  towers  of 
Sixtus  IV.,  which  flanked 
the  Porta  del  Popolo,  we 
found  some  bas-reliefs, 
representing  the  five 
horses,  Palmatus,  Da- 
naus,  Ocean,  Victor,  Vin- 
dex,  which  bas-reliefs  had 
been  removed  by  the 
Pope  from  the  tomb  of 
the  famous  champion, 

Publius  JElius  Gutta  Calpurnianus.  The  names  and  effigies 
of  these  runners  were  cut  upon  various  domestic  utensils, 
objects  of  daily  use,  and  even  children's  toys.  In  our 


Inscription  from  the  pedestal  of  the  jockey 
Crescens. 


216 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 


storerooms  in  the  Capitoline  museum,  we  keep  a  couple  of 
leaden  wheels  of  a  very  small  cart,  evidently  the  toy  of  a 
child  two  or  three  years  of  age,  on  the  circumference  of 
which  the  names  of  famous  horses  and  jockeys  are  en- 
graved. In  Rome,  in  the  Via  Porta  S.  Lorenzo,  and  at 
Ostia,  in  the  Via  delle  Pistrine,  I  have  myself  found  two 
handles  of  pocket-knives,  of  bone,  both  ornamented  with 
the  head  and  name  of  a  certain  horse,  Nereos,  and  of  his 
jockey  Euprepes,  the  beautiful. 


Pocket-knife  of  Euprepes. 

Fancy  what  an  incredible  amount  of  labor  fell  upon  the 
poor  Roman  policemen  on  race  days,  and  generally  on  days 
of  popular  entertainments  in  theatres,  amphitheatres,  cir- 
cuses, and  the  stadium.  The  Circus  Maximus  alone  could 
accommodate  285,000  spectators,  all  comfortably  seated; 
the  Circus  Flaminius,  150,000,  and  the  Colosseum,  87,000. 
This  mania  for  spectacular  shows,  and  the  assemblage  of 
these  gigantic  crowds,  very  often  gave  occasion  to  not  less 
gigantic  catastrophes,  in  comparison  with  which  the  recent 
ones  of  the  Ring  Theatre  at  Vienna,  of  Nice,  Marseilles, 
Brooklyn,  the  Opera  Comique  in  Paris,  and  Exeter,  sink  into 
insignificance.  Tacitus  relates  that,  in  the  year  27  after 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  217 

Christ,  a  certain  Atilius,  a  man  sprung  from  the  lowest 
classes  of  the  city,  obtained  the  right  of  building  a  tem- 
porary wooden  amphitheatre  near  Fidenae,  now  Castel  Giu- 
bileo,  five  miles  outside  the  Porta  Salaria.  As,  under  Ti- 
berius, athletic  and  gladiatorial  shows  had  become  quite  a 
rare  occurrence,  on  account  of  the  indifference,  even  antipa- 
thy which  the  emperor  himself  felt  towards  them,  an  enor- 
mous crowd  met  at  Fidenae,  to  enjoy  the  novelty  of  the  ex- 
hibition, and  at  the  same  time  to  enjoy  an  excursion  up  the 
green  valley  of  the  Tiber.  These  spectators  had  scarcely 
taken  their  seats  on  the  wooden  steps,  when,  in  a  moment, 
and  with  a  terrific  crash,  the  whole  structure  gave  way,  and 
buried  under  its  ruins  the  entire  assembly.  Tacitus,  who 
had  at  his  disposal  and  who  consulted  the  official  reports  of 
the  police,  assures  us  that  the  number  of  dead  and  wounded 
amounted  to  50,000.  The  town  was  struck  with  profound 
terror  and  amazement.  Noblemen  turned  their  palaces 
into  hospitals.  Matrons  and  maidens  of  the  aristocracy 
took  the  office  of  nurses.  "  We  had  an  example  in  those 
eventful  days,"  says  the  historian,  "  of  the  fine  old  times, 
when,  after  a  great  battle,  the  town  was  turned  into  one 
affectionate  family,  in  which  the  able  portion  gave  up  all 
their  time  and  attention  to  the  disabled."  The  Senate 
made  new  regulations  for  the  safety  of  public  places  of 
entertainment ;  generous  subscriptions  came  to  the  relief  of 
the  sufferers  ;  and,  to  make  the  similarity  with  modern  cases 
more  perfect,  just  as  the  author  of  the  Marseilles  catas- 
trophe was  fined  only  a  few  hundred  francs,  so  Atilius,  the 
author  of  the  Fidenae  slaughter,  was  only  banished  from 
Rome  and  from  Italy. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  all  the  evils  and  accidents  I  have 
described  must  have  kept  the  vigiles  constantly  on  the  qui 


218  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

vive  ;  still,  I  have  not  yet  mentioned  their  principal  duty  and 
labor,  as  firemen.  I  do  not  think  there  has  ever  been  a  town 
so  often  and  so  thoroughly  purified  by  fire  as  ancient  Rome 
was.  That  conflagrations  on  a  large  scale  should  have  oc- 
curred in  the  first  two  or  three  centuries  of  its  life  was 
natural  enough,  since  its  houses  were  mostly  of  timber  and 
covered  with  thatched  roofs.  I  admit  also  the  possibility  of 
great  fires  after  the  city,  burnt  down  and  destroyed  by  the 
Gauls  A.  u.  c.  364,  was  reconstructed  with  stone  and  brick, 
because,  as  soon  as  those  barbaric  hordes  were  swept  from 
the  region  of  the  Seven  Hills  by  Camillus,  the  only  care  and 
solicitude  of  the  patres  patrice  was  that  the  city  should  be 
rebuilt  quickly,  not  that  it  should  be  rebuilt  regularly  and 
well.  Livy  relates  that  as  soon  as  the  decisive  words  of 
the  centurio,  hie  manebimus  optime,  were  heard  through 
the  Forum,  the  populace  at  once  gave  up  the  idea  of 
migrating  to  Veii,  and  that  antiquata  lege  promiscue  urbs 
cedificari  cozpta  ;  they  began  to  rebuild  their  houses,  with 
no  consideration  whatever  for  regularity,  for  the  straight 
line,  or  for  aesthetic  and  sanitary  laws.  Bricks  and  tiles 
were  distributed  gratuitously;  every  one  was  allowed  to 
quarry  stones  wherever  they  could  be  obtained,  and  to 
establish  lime-kilns  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city.  The 
eagerness  to  gain  the  prize  promised  to  those  who  would 
complete  their  constructions  in  twelve  months'  time  made 
them  despise  the  straight  line  in  the  new  streets  and  lanes ; 
and  the  desire  of  gaining  more  ground  caused  them  to 
increase  the  size  of  the  houses  at  the  expense  of  that  of 
the  streets.  "This  is  the  reason,"  Livy  concludes,  "why 
the  drains,  which  before  the  fire  of  the  Gauls  ran  under 
public  land,  now  run  irregularly  under  private  property ; 
this  is  also  the  reason  why  the  plan  of  Rome  is  more  er- 
ratic than  that  of  any  other  great  city." 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  219 

No  wonder  that,  under  such  adverse  circumstances,  we 
hear  of  fires  sweeping  periodically  over  whole  quarters  of 
the  capital.  Such  was  the  fire  described  by  Livy  in  chap- 
ter twenty-seven  of  the  twenty-sixth  book,  by  which  all  the 
shops  and  houses  surrounding  the  Forum,  the  palace  of  the 
high-priest,  the  fish-market,  and  the  region  of  the  Lautumiae, 
were  levelled  to  the  ground ;  such  also  was  the  fire  described 
by  Livy  in  chapter  twenty-six  of  his  forty-seventh  book,  a 
fire  by  which  the  region  of  the  Forum  Boarium,  from  the 
modern  Piazza  Montanara  to  the  foot  of  the  Aventine,  was 
totally  devastated.  I  need  not  speak  of  the  most  fearful  of 
all  conflagrations,  —  of  the  conflagration  which,  under  Nero, 
in  the  year  65  of  our  era,  annihilated  two  thirds  of  the 
great  metropolis,  —  because  I  have  had  occasion  to  describe 
it  in  my  fifth  chapter,  on  "  The  Palace  of  the  Caesars." 

In  all  these  reports  of  fires,  however,  there  is  one  thing 
which  I  fail  to  understand,  and  that  is  how  fire  could  have 
attacked,  injured,  or  altogether  destroyed  edifices  built  of 
marble  and  bronze,  without  a  particle  of  timber  or  other 
combustible  matter.  Take,  for  instance,  the  Pantheon  of 
Agrippa,  which  ancient  writers  assert  was  twice  burnt, — 
once  under  Titus,  once  under  Trajan.  There  is  not  an 
atom  of  it  capable  of  catching  fire  ;  not  even  French  petro- 
leurs  could  do  the  slightest  harm  to  it.  It  is  also  a  mys- 
tery to  me  how  the  Colosseum  could  have  been  set  into  a 
blaze  by  a  thunderbolt,  on  August  23,  A.  D.  217,  and  that 
it  should  have  taken  not  less  than  six  years  to  repair  the 
damage.  Still,  the  fact  is  proved  by  the  testimony  of  Dion 
Cassius  (Ixxviii.  25),  by  the  coins  of  Severus  Alexander, 
showing  the  view  of  the  restored  amphitheatre,  and  by  the 
amphitheatre  itself,  the  upper  tiers  of  which  appear  to  have 
been  rebuilt  in  haste,  with  materials  taken  from  other 
edifices. 


220  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

As  to  smaller  fires,  of  single  houses  and  premises,  they 
were  almost  a  daily  occurrence.     In   fact,  they  broke  out 


Upper  part  of  the  Colosseum. 

so  often  and  so  unexpectedly  that  there  sometimes  arose 
suspicion  of  the  owners  themselves  having  set  the  prop- 
erty on  fire ;  because,  although  the  Romans  did  not  pos- 
sess, as  far  as  we  can  judge,  fire  insurance  companies,  yet 
such  munificent  contributions  were  made  by  friends  and 
clients  to  the  sufferers  that  it  was  in  many  cases  a  fortu- 
nate thing  to  be  burned  down.  Martial,  in  the  fifty-second 
epigram  of  the  third  book,  speaks  of  a  certain  Tongilianus, 
whose  house,  worth  two  hundred  sesterces,  had  been  rebuilt, 
after  a  suspicious  fire,  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand,  raised  by 
the  subscriptions  of  friends.  Juvenal,  in  the  third  satire, 
describes  the  zeal  of  those  who,  not  satisfied  with  rendering 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  221 

pecuniary  help  to  the  sufferers,  made  them  also  presents  of 
statues,  pictures,  books,  and  furniture. 

Let  us  see  now  in  what  way  Rome  tried  to  protect  itself 
from  so  many  perils,  risks,  and  casualties. 

At  a  very  remote  age  the  direction  of  the  police  was 
intrusted  to  three  magistrates,  called  triumviri  nocturni, 
because  their  principal  duty  was  to  watch  for  the  safety  of 
the  city  at  night.  Valerius  Maximus  speaks  of  one  of  them, 
P.  Villius,  being  fined  quia  vigilias  neglegentius  circumi- 
erat  (for  not  having  kept  with  diligence  his  nocturnal 
watch),  and  of  other  triumviri  who  were  punished  because 
they  had  not  run  with  proper  speed  to  extinguish  a  fire 
which  had  broken  out  in  a  jeweller's  shop  on  the  Sacra  Via. 

The  triumviri  capitales  was  composed  of  a  body  of  men 
belonging  to  the  familia  publica,  "  servants  of  the  com- 
monwealth," stationed  in  groups  of  twenty  or  thirty  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  gates  of  the  town,  and  furnished  with 
the  most  elementary  instruments  known  to  our  firemen, 
such  as  ladders,  saws,  pickaxes,  and  ropes.  In  process  of 
time,  these  servi  publici  having  become  insufficient  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  a  largely  increased  population,  compa- 
nies of  volunteers  were  formed  for  the  extinction  of  fires, 
and  for  helping  the  triumviri  gratuitously  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  duties.  These  companies,  however,  did 
not  enjoy  particularly  the  favor  of  the  government,  whether 
republican  or  imperial.  In  the  thirty-third  letter  addressed 
by  Pliny  the  younger,  when  governor  of  Bithynia,  to  the 
wise  Emperor  Trajan,  permission  is  asked  to  form  a  body 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  volunteer  firemen  at  Nicomedia. 
The  answer  of  the  emperor  is  not  favorable  to  Pliny's  pro- 
posal, because,  he  remarks,  societies  originated  with  a 
praiseworthy  idea  often  degenerate  into  political  sects,  and 


222  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

become  a  permanent  source  of  disturbance  and  danger  to 
state  institutions. 

In  the  year  6  B.  c.,  a  fire  having  destroyed  a  large  dis- 
trict of  Rome  under  the  eyes  of  Augustus,  that  emperor 
at  once  decided  to  reform  the  service,  and  enrolled  for  this 
purpose  a  body  of  freedmen,  seven  thousand  strong,  which 
was  divided  into  seven  battalions,  or  cohortes,  and  placed 
under  the  command  of  an  officer  of  the  equestrian  order. 
The  body  was  distributed  and  lodged  throughout  the  city, 
so  that  each  battalion  could  watch  two  of  the  fourteen 
regions,  or  wards,  into  which  the  city  itself  had  been  di- 
vided by  Augustus.  The  seven  companies  of  each  battalion 
were  placed  under  the  orders  of  centuriones,  or  captains; 
each  battalion  under  the  orders  of  a  colonel,  or  tribunus  ; 
and  the  whole  body  under  a  general  or  prefect  of  police, 
called  prcefectus  vigilum.  The  cost  of  the  maintenance  of 
the  corps  was  charged  against  the  public  treasury ;  and  as 
the  state  of  the  public  treasury  was  not  very  flourishing  at 
the  time,  Augustus  not  only  suppressed  unnecessary  out- 
lays, such  as  the  subsidy  which  used  to  be  allowed  to  mag- 
istrates who  gave,  in  their  own  private  name,  gladiatorial 
shows,  but  also  increased  the  public  revenue  by  instituting 
a  new  contribution,  called  the  vicesima  quinta  venalium 
(twenty-five  per  cent,  on  the  sale  of  slaves). 

Every  time  a  fire  took  place  the  prefect  of  the  vigiles  was 
obliged  to  open  an  official  inquiry,  and  judge  of  the  case, 
sitting  in  court.  Of  course  no  penalty  was  inflicted  in  case 
of  a  pure  accident ;  but  if  the  fire  had  been  caused  by  neg- 
ligence, the  culprit  was  punished  either  by  a  solemn  public 
admonition,  or,  in  the  worst  cases,  with  castigation,  the 
number  of  strokes  being  fixed  according  to  the  degree  of 
the  culprit's  responsibility  duly  ascertained.  Incendiaries 
were  handed  over  to  the  higher  court  of  the  prefect  of  the 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  223 

city,  and  sentenced  to  death.  However,  as  the  spirit  of  the 
police  regulations  of  Rome  was  rather  to  prevent  than  to 
punish,  the  prefect  of  the  vigiles  was  authorized  to  watch 
and  examine  kitchens  in  every  house,  and  state  whether  the 
supply  of  water  in  the  kitchen  corresponded  to  the  impor- 
tance and  size  of  the  house,  and  whether  the  furnaces  and 
heating  apparatus  worked  properly.  Another  of  his  duties 
was  to  supervise  wardrobes  at  the  entrance  of  the  great 
thermce,  and  to  pass  judgment  upon  the  wardrobe-keep- 
ers, or  capsarii,  every  time  the  loss  of  wraps  or  overcoats 
was  complained  of  by  a  customer.  Imagine  what  the  life 
of  these  poor  magistrates  must  have  been,  if  they  put  any 
particle  of  zeal  into  the  accomplishment  of  their  functions, 
obliged  as  they  were  per  totam  noctem  vigilare,  and  to 
sit  the  whole  day  in  court,  dealing  with  the  worst  class  of 
roughs  and  vagabonds.  Some  of  the  cases  brought  be- 
fore them  were  discussed  for  eighteen  years  j  that  is  to  say, 
for  a  space  of  time  considerably  longer  than  that  occupied 
by  the  famous  Tichborne  case.  Near  the  church  of  S. 
Antony,  on  the  Esquiline,  inscriptions  have  been  discovered 
relating  to  a  process  instituted  in  the  year  226  of  our  era 
by  the  collegiimi  fullonum,  the  corporation  of  washermen, 
against  the  curator  aquarum,  or  superintendent  of  public 
aqueducts,  on  account  of  a  certain  supply  of  water  to  which 
the  corporation  claimed  to  be  gratuitously  entitled.  The 
controversy  lasted  from  the  year  226  to  244,  and  was 
finally  settled  by  an  elaborate  sentence  of  the  prefect  of 
police,  the  very  text  of  which,  engraved  on  a  marble  pedes- 
tal, has  been  discovered  in  the  above-mentioned  place. 

The  policemen  themselves,  whom  Augustus  at  first  en- 
rolled among  freedmen,  did  not  enjoy,  as  usual  in  Euro- 
pean cities,  the  favor  of  the  populace ;  and  as  in  modern 
Rome  the  guardie  di  publica  sicurezza  are  called  all  sorts 


224  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

of  names  by  the  roughs  and  their  sympathizers,  so  the  clas- 
sic vigiles  were  nicknamed  sparteoli  by  our  forefathers. 
Yet  this  ludicrous  and  sarcastic  denomination  is  not  devoid 
of  interest  for  the  archaeologist,  because  it  is  evidently  de- 
rived from  spartum  ;  in  other  words,  it  shows  that  the  fire- 
men used  to  carry  water  in  buckets  of  spartum,  made  water- 
tight with  a  coating  of  pitch  or  tar.  To  console  them  for 
the  want  of  public  sympathy,  the  emperors  increased  pe- 
riodically their  privileges  and  their  accommodations,  and 
conceded  to  them  the  rights  of  Roman  citizenship,  not 
after  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  service,  as  was  cus- 
tomary, but  after  only  three  years  of  good  service.  The 
captains,  in  case  of  promotion,  had  the  right  of  serving  in 
the  praBtorian  guard ;  and  their  prefect  usually  exchanged 
the  department  of  police  first  for  that  of  the  annona,  then 
for  the  governorship  of  Egypt,  to  end  his  career  as  pre- 
fect of  the  prsetorium,  the  highest  dignity  which  a  Roman 
knight  could  reach. 

In  my  opinion  there  is  no  single  instance  better  adapted 
to  show  the  difference  in  the  accommodations  of  ancient 
and  modern  police  than  the  comparative  study  of  their 
lodgings  or  barracks.  In  Rome  there  were  seven  main 
barracks,  called  stationes,  and  fourteen  corps  de  garde,  or 
detached  posts,  called  excubitoria.  Of  the  seven  stations, 
four  have  been  discovered;  of  the  fourteen  excubitoria, 
only  two.  The  barracks  of  the  first  battalion,  which  con- 
tained also  the  headquarters  of  the  whole  corps  and  the 
offices  of  the  commander-in-chief,  were  found  during  the 
pontificate  of  Pope  Urban  VIII.,  Barberini,  in  1644,  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  Piazza  dei  SS.  Apostoli,  in  the 
foundations  of  the  Palazzo  Muti-Savorelli,  now  Balestra. 
Their  remains  were  examined  and  described  by  Lucas  Hol- 
stenius.  He  speaks  of  huge  halls,  ornamented  with  columns, 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  225 

pedestals,  statues,  marble  incrustations,  mosaic  pavements, 
and  of  waiting-rooms  and  offices,  having  marble  seats  around 
the  walls,  which  were  covered  with  finely  designed  fres- 
coes. Amongst  the  statues  raised  to  gods  and  emperors  in 
the  vestibule  and  in  the  atrium  of  the  barracks,  only  eight 
were  discovered,  in  a  more  or  less  fragmentary  state ;  they 
represented  the  Genius  cohortis  primce  vigilum,  Cara- 
calla,  Gordianus  Pius,  Furia  Sabinia  Tranquillina  (his 
empress),  Constantine,  Constans,  Valentinian,  and  Gratianus. 
If  the  site  occupied  by  these  barracks  were  not  actually 
covered  with  palatial  and  costly  structures,  such  as  the 
Palazzo  Muti-Savorelli  and  the  convent  of  S.  Marcello,  it 
would  be  well  worth  while  to  excavate  it  again,  for  I  have 
come  across  documents  proving  the  existence  there  of  some 
remarkable  works  of  art.  In  the  archaeological  memoirs  of 
Pietro  Santi  Bartoli,  imperfectly  published  by  Fea,  are  the 
following  memoranda :  — 

"Amongst  the  many  exquisite  works  of  leading  Greek 
chisels  discovered  by  Cavaliere  Giovanni  Battista  Muti  in 
rebuilding  the  foundations  of  his  palace,  at  the  northern 
end  of  the  Piazza  dei  SS.  Apostoli,  there  was  the  bas-relief 
representing  Perseus  and  Andromeda  (now  preserved  in  the 
Casino  of  the  Villa  Doria-Pamphili).  Two  more  bas-reliefs 
were  brought  to  light,  of  the  same  perfect  workmanship ; 
but  by  order  of  the  Cavaliere  Muti  they  were  broken  in 
pieces,  and  buried  again  under  the  foundations  of  the 
palace." 

As  regards  the  adjoining  convent  of  S.  Marcello,  Pietro 
Santi  Bartoli  says :  "In  laying  the  foundations  of  that 
wing  of  the  convent  which  lies  toward  the  Palazzo  Muti, 
and  overlooks  the  same  Piazza  dei  SS.  Apostoli,  many  col- 
umns and  ancient  marbles  were  discovered,  and  among 
them  a  fine  statue  of  colossal  size  and  in  perfect  preserva- 


226  POLICE  AND  FIEE  DEPARTMENT. 

tion.  By  order  of  the  monks,  it  was  buried  again."  It  is 
worthy  of  consideration  how,  in  my  native  city,  even  fate 
seems  to  be  inspired  by  archaeological  instincts.  Who  in 
modern  times  has  taken  possession  of  this  convent  of  S. 
Marcello,  built  on  the  site  of  the  barracks  and  headquarters 
of  the  ancient  Vigiles  ?  The  superintendent  of  police  him- 
self, the  Questore  di  Roma,  with  his  staff  of  Guardie  di 
Publica  Sicurezza. 

The  barracks  of  the  second  battalion  were  discovered 
during  the  pontificate  of  Clement  XII.,  on  the  road  leading 
(at  that  time)  from  the  Esquiline  to  the  Porta  Maggiore, 
and  corresponding  to  the  ancient  Via  Labicana.  Affixed 
to  the  walls  of  the  edifice  were  inscriptions  commemorating 
the  dedication  of  a  tetrastyle  temple  in  honor  of  Jupiter 
Dolichenus,  and  of  a  Nymphceum,  by  Claudius  Catullus, 
prefect  of  the  Vigiles  in  the  year  191,  together  with  some 
of  the  officers  of  the  second  battalion.  The  site  of  the 
barracks  of  the  third  battalion  is  unknown. 

The  site  of  the  fourth  Statio,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  church  of  S.  Saba,  on  the  so-called  Pseudo-Aventine, 
was  revealed,  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, by  the  discovery  of  a  pedestal  dedicated  in  the  year 
205  to  the  emperor  Caracalla.  On  the  left  side  of  this 
pedestal  the  following  remarkable  document  was  inscribed : 

"  Severus  and  Caracalla  emperors,  to  Junius  Rufinus,  pre- 
fect of  the  Vigiles,  greeting.  You  are  hereby  authorized 
to  punish  with  the  rod  or  with  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  (fusti- 
bus  vel  flagellis)  the  janitor  or  any  of  the  inhabitants  of 
a  house,  in  which  fire  has  broken  out  through  negligence. 
In  case  the  fire  should  be  occasioned  not  by  negligence  but 
by  crime,  you  must  hand  over  the  incendiaries  to  our  friend 
Fabius  (Septimianus)  Gilo,  prefect  of  the  city.  Remember 
also  that  one  of  your  duties  is  to  discover  runaway  slaves 
and  to  return  them  to  their  masters." 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 


227 


We  have  now  reached  the  barracks  of  the  fifth  battalion, 
which  occupied,  as  I  shall  presently  show,  the  higher  plat- 


Entrance  to  the  Villa  Mattei.     Site  of  the  Barracks  of  the  Fifth  Battalion  of  Police. 

form  of  the  Villa  Celimontana,  formerly  belonging  to  the 
ducal  family  of  the  Mattei  di  Giove,  and  now  the  prop- 
erty of  Baron  Richard  von  Hoffman.  An  inscription  was 
found  in  that  part  of  the  villa  which  overlooks  the  church 
of  S.  Stefano  Rotondo,  describing  how  a  shrine,  dedi-v 
cated  A.  D.  Ill  to  the  Genius  of  the  fifth  battalion,  had 
been  restored  forty-five  years  later,  in  156.  Another  in- 
scription, discovered  in  the  same  place  in  1735,  speaks  of 
another  cediculum  dedicated  to  the  same  Genius  in  the  year 
113.  The  shrine  itself,  or,  at  any  rate,  one  of  the  many 
shrines  of  the  barracks,  seems  to  have  been  found  and 
brought  to  light  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, more  precisely  in  the  garden  then  belonging  to 
Uberto  Strozzi  of  Mantua.  I  describe  it  to  show  what  an 


228  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

extraordinary  display  of  art  and  luxury  there  was  in  a 
chapel  belonging  to  ordinary  police  barracks.  The  shrine 
was  built  in  the  shape  of  a  small  temple,  circular  outside, 
octagonal  inside,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  colonnade  of 
the  Corinthian  order,  with  shafts  of  porphyry,  capitals, 
frieze,  and  cornice  of  Carrara  marble.  Each  of  the  eight 
sides  of  the  interior  was  ornamented  with  a  niche  for  stat- 
ues, of  which  niches  four  were  semicircular,  four  square. 
One  of  these  last  served  as  a  door.  In  the  corners  of  the 
octagon  there  were  eight  columns  of  porphyry,  supporting 
an  exquisitely  carved  frieze. 

The  discoveries  I  have  described  were  cast  into  the  shade 
by  those  made  in  January,  1820,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the 
main  gate  of  the  same  Villa  Mattei,  or  von  Hoffman.  At 
a  depth  of  thirteen  feet,  two  marble  pedestals,  five  feet 
high,  were  dug  up  ;  they  were  found  standing  in  their  orig- 
inal position,  on  a  tessellated  pavement,  and  bore  the  com- 
plete rolls  of  the  battalion.  The  first  pedestal  had  no  ded- 
icatory inscription,  but  began  at  once  with  the  rolls  of  the 
first  company,  commanded  by  Captain  Csesernius  Senecio. 
The  inscription  on  the  second  pedestal  began  with  the  fol- 
lowing words,  which  I  translate  freely  :  — 

"  To  the  Emperor  Csesar  M.  Aurelius  Antoninus  Cara- 
calla,  the  pious,  the  fortunate,  consul  for  the  third  time, 
son  of  the  late  Emperor  L.  Septimius  Severus  Pius  Perti- 
nax,  this  pedestal  and  this  statue  have  been  raised  by  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  fifth  battalion  of  police  on  July 
6th,  under  the  consulship  of  Faustinus  and  Rufinus  "  (the 
year  210  A.  D.).  Then  follow  the  names  of  the  superior 
officers,  of  C.  Julius  Quintilianus,  prefect  of  police  and 
general  commanding  the  corps ;  of  M.  Firmius,  adjutant- 
general;  of  L.  Speratius  Justus,  colonel  of  the  fifth  bat- 
talion ;  of  the  captains  commanding  the  seven  companies  ; 


POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.  229 

of  the  four  physicians  and  surgeons  attached  to  the  bar- 
racks ;  and  lastly,  of  the  two  officers  to  whom  the  care  of 
erecting  the  statue  had  been  intrusted,  namely,  the  captain 
and  the  standard-bearer  of  the  first  company. 

The  importance  of  these  two  documents,  however,  is  far 
greater  if  we  take  into  consideration  the  rolls  of  the  men. 
In  the  year  105,  which  is  the  approximate  date  of  the  first 
pedestal,  the  battalion  numbered  115  officers  and  sub-offi- 
cers, and  930  men.  In  the  year  110  the  number  of  the 
former  had  decreased  to  109,  the  number  of  the  latter  had 
increased  to  1,013.  Taking  as  the  average  strength  of  a 
battalion,  1,033  men  all  told,  the  whole  police  corps  of 
imperial  Rome  must  have  numbered  7,231  men.  The 
strength  of  each  of  the  seven  companies  varies  from  a  min- 
imum of  125  to  a  maximum  of  173,  the  seventh  or  last 
company  excepted,  which  numbers  scarcely  94  men,  prob- 
ably tirones  or  recruits  in  course  of  training. 

The  sites  of  the  sixth  and  seventh  barracks  have  not  yet 
been  ascertained. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  police  and  firemen  I  must 
add  a  few  words  on  the  comparatively  recent  discovery  of 
one  of  the  detached  posts  or  corps-de-garde.  The  discovery 
of  the  excubitorium,  or  outpost,  of  the  seventh  battalion, 
stationed  in  the  fourteenth  region,  Trastevere,  took  place 
in  1868  near  the  church  of  S.  Crisogono.  It  appears 
that  the  police  authorities  established  outposts  according 
to  circumstances,  at  special  points  of  the  district  where 
disturbances  were  most  likely  to  take  place.  For  this  pur- 
pose they  rented  a  private  house,  or  portion  of  a  private 
house,  and  stationed  men  in  it,  until  the  requirements  of 
public  security  made  a  further  move  necessary.  The 
house  discovered  in  1868  seems  to  have  been  rented  by 
the  police  for  a  long  term,  at  least  from  the  reign  of  Cara- 


230  POLICE  AND  FIRE  DEPARTMENT. 

calla  to  that  of  Philip  the  Arab ;  in  other  words,  for  more 
than  thirty  years.  It  is  an  elegant  structure,  with  mosaic 
pavements,  fresco  paintings,  marble  fountains,  baths,  and 
heating  apparatus.  The  importance  of  the  discovery,  how- 
ever, does  not  come  from  the  beauty  of  the  building,  but 
from  the  many  inscriptions  scratched  in  the  plaster  by  the 
policemen  themselves,  during  the  hours  of  indoor  rest, 
which  inscriptions  admit  us  into  the  most  intimate  secrets 
of  barrack  life,  and  reveal  to  us  every  minute  detail  of  the 
daily  routine  of  the  men,  their  own  feelings  towards  their 
emperors  and  officers,  and  other  items  of  police  life.  The 
language  they  use  in  scrawling  their  sentiments  is  always 
direct  and  plain,  very  often  profane.  I  refer  those  of  my 
readers  who  wish  to  know  more  on  this  subject  to  the  essay 
by  the  late  Dr.  Wilhelm  Henzen  (X'  escubitorio  della  set- 
tima  coorte  dei  Vigili),  published  in  the  "Annali  dell* 
Institute,  1869." 


THE  EXCUBITORIUM   OF  THE   SEVENTH   BATTALION   OF 

POLICE. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE    TIBER    AND    THE    CLAUDIAN     HARBOR. 

THE  subject  which  I  have  selected  for  this  chapter,  the 
archaeology  of  the  Tiber,  is  so  comprehensive,  and  covers 
such  a  vast  space  in  the  field  of  Roman  antiquities,  that  it 
gives  the  writer  an  embarras  du  choix,  and  makes  it  a 
difficult  task  to  concentrate  the  whole  subject  within  pre- 
.  scribed  limits.  In  the  Essay  on  the  Bibliography  of  the 
Tiber,  published  by  Enrico  Narducci  in  1876,  not  less  than 
four  hundred  special  works  are  registered,  perhaps  two 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  on  this  subject.  If  the  publi- 
cations of  the  last  twelve  years  were  added  to  the  list,  we 
may  be  sure  that  a  special  library  on  the  famous  river  of 
Rome  would  contain  about  eight  hundred  volumes.  There 
is  probably  no  other  river  in  the  world  which  has  been  dis- 
cussed so  exhaustively. 

The  principal  springs  of  the  Tiber  are  located  in  a  gorge 
of  Monte  Coronaro,  in  the  Apennines  of  Tuscany,  at  the 
height  of  3,600  feet  above  the  sea.  The  river  runs  through 
the  lowlands  of  Etruria,  Umbria,  Sabina,  and  Latium  for  a 
distance  of  249  miles,  of  which  nearly  80  are  navigable  even 
by  steamers  of  moderate  size.  Between  Rome  and  the  sea, 
it  expands  into  a  beautiful  channel  some  400  feet  wide, 
and  is  navigated  by  steamers  and  barges  of  nearly  100  tons 
register.  Nothing  can  be  more  charming  than  a  sail  down 
the  river  from  Rome  to  the  sea,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
historical  associations  of  the  river  itself,  but  more  especially 
on  account  of  its  natural  beauty.  Let  us  recall  the  mag- 


232     THE   TIBER  AND    THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR. 

nificent  verses  in  which  Virgil  describes  how  ^Eneas,  sail- 
ing along  the  Latin  coast,  discovered  the  mouth  of  the 
Tiber  and  entered  the  unknown  waters,  wondering  at  the 
lovely  scene  which  opened  before  his  eyes,  and  at  the  feel- 
ing of  rest  and  tranquillity  which  pervaded  all  his  being, 
after  a  long  and  eventful  voyage,  — 

"  Atque  hie  jiEneas  ingentem  ex  aequore  lucum 
Prospicit :  hunc  inter  fluvio  Tiberinus  amoeno, 
Vorticibus  rapidis,  et  multa  flavus  arena, 
In  mare  prorumpit.     Variae  circumque  supraque 
Assuetae  ripis  volucres  et  fluminis  alveo, 
jEthera  mulcebant  cantu  lucoque  volabant." 

The  fidelity  of  this  picture  is  astonishing ;  at  least  it  was 
so,  until  two  or  three  years  ago,  before  the  appearance  in 
this  remote  region  of  peace  and  enchantment  of  so-called 
civilization,  with  its  pretence  of  making  the  air  healthier, 
and  of  banishing;  malaria  from  the  lowlands  of  the  delta. 

O 

The  trees  sung  by  Virgil  have  been  cut  down  ;  the  sand- 
banks, a  favorite  resort  of  flamingoes  and  pelicans,  have 
been  dredged  away ;  and  to  make  the  profanation  com- 
plete, a  cast-iron  bridge  is  to  be  thrown  across  the  river,  in 
place  of  the  picturesque  old  boat  which  for  centuries  has 
ferried  passengers  across  from  Ostia  to  Fiumicino. 

The  special  characteristics  of  the  river  are  three  :  first, 
the  wholesome  quality  of  its  waters ;  second,  the  consid- 
erable amount  of  solid  matter  it  carries  down  to  the  sea, 
which,  deposited  on  each  side  of  the  bar,  makes  the  coast 
advance  at  a  considerable  rate ;  and,  third,  the  abundance 
of  the  springs  that  feed  the  river,  in  consequence  of  which 
its  normal  level  never  varies  by  an  inch,  summer  or  winter. 

Of  the  first  characteristic,  I  have  spoken  in  the  third 
chapter ;  of  the  second,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  at 
length  in  this.  For  the  third,  I  may  observe  that  the 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.    233 

Tiber,  as  regards  volume  and  level  of  water,  has  never 
changed  within  historical  times.  One  may  read,  even  in 
books  of  sound  archaeological  value,  that  the  Tiber  was 
much  lower  in  ancient  times  than  it  is  now.  Even  Bonini, 
one  of  our  best  engineers,  has  stated  the  difference  of  level 
at  eighteen  feet.  His  great  argument,  repeated  so  often, 
is  drawn  from  the  passage  in  Pliny  which  describes  how 
Agrippa  once  rowed  into  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  the  mouth  of 
which  is  not  high  enough  above  the  water  now  to  admit 
the  possibility  of  any  such  anti-hygienic  sport.  But  from 
a  series  of  observations  taken  in  the  course  of  the  present 
works  of  embankment,  it  appears  that  for  the  last  twenty- 
one  centuries  the  level  of  the  water,  and  consequently  the 
bed  of  the  river,  has  risen  only  two  feet  and  two  or  three 
inches. 

There  is  an  important  work,  written  in  Latin  by  Paolo 
Gioyio  on  the  fish  belonging  to  the  Tiber.  The  most  fa- 
mous and  costly  in  ancient  times  was  the  lupus,  a  fish  de- 
scribed and  praised  by  Macrobius,  Pliny  the  elder,  and 
Juvenal.  The  best  in  quality,  the  ones  reserved  for  impe- 
rial and  aristocratic  tables,  were  caught  inter  duos  ponies, 
near  the  island  of  S.  Bartolomeo  and  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Cloaca  Maxima.  The  sturgeon  also  was  highly  appreciated. 
In  the  Conservatori  Palace,  on  the  Capitol,  there  is  still  to 
be  seen  a  marble  bas-relief,  representing  a  sturgeon  forty- 
six  inches  long,  and  underneath  it  is  engraved  the  text  of 
a  law  passed  by  the  Senatus  populusque  Romanus,  in  the 
year  1581,  according  to  which  any  sturgeon  caught  in 
Roman  waters,  equalling  or  exceeding  the  statute  size,  as 
represented  in  the  bas-relief,  must  be  considered  public 
property,  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  city  authorities. 
As  far  as  I  know,  the  city  authorities  have  never  feasted  on 
a  sturgeon  since  the  promulgation  of  that  strange  decree. 


234     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 

As  regards  inundations,  the  Tiber  ranks  among  the 
proudest  rivers  in  the  world.  That  of  December,  1870, 
will  never  fade  from  the  memory  of  the  living  generation  ; 
and  I  fear  that  this  impressive  and  picturesque  spectacle 
will  never  again  be  seen,  since  civilization  has  taken  up 
the  matter,  and  by  means  of  lofty  embankments,  of  locks 
and  gates,  will  succeed,  I  am  sure,  in  keeping  the  river 
confined  hereafter  within  its  two  parallel  walls. 

In  the  second  century  after  the  foundation  of  Rome, 
King  Ancus  Marcius,  feeling  the  safety  of  the  kingdom 
well  insured  on  the  land  side,  turned  his  eyes  towards  the 
Mediterranean,  the  waters  of  which  he  could  see  glistening 
under  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun,  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  city,  and  in  order  to  open  a  debouche  for  interna- 
tional trade,  occupied  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  and  founded 
a  colony  by  it,  which  was  named  Ostia  Tiberina,  from  its 
position  near  the  bar  of  the  river.  At  that  remote  age, 
however,  very  little  seems  to  have  been  done  to  secure 
safety  of  navigation ;  and  when  we  hear  the  harbor  of 
Ostia  mentioned  by  writers  of  the  republican  and  early 
imperial  periods,  we  must  not  think  of  a  real  basin  of 
water  with  piers,  and  jetties,  and  breakwaters,  but  only 
of  the  natural  channel  of  the  river,  which  shoals,  moving 
sands,  and  an  almost  complete  absence  of  tide  made  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  and  dangerous  for  sailing  vessels. 

To  these  natural  defects,  common  to  all  river  harbors 
on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  another  must  be  added, 
resulting  from  exceptional  local  causes,  —  the  enormous 
yearly  enlargement  of  the  coast,  by  means  of  the  sand 
carried  down  to  the  sea  by  the  Tiber,  and  deposited  on 
each  side  of  the  river's  mouth.  I  have  already  stated 
in  the  third  chapter  that  the  flavus  Tiberis  washes  down 
every  year  eight  and  one  half  million  tons  of  sand,  cor- 


THE  TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.    235 

responding  to  a  volume  of  more  than  four  million  cubic 
metres.  No  wonder  that,  in  such  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, ancient  Ostia,  the  Ostia  of  King  Ancus  Mar- 
cius,  is  at  the  present  day  fully  four  miles  distant  from  the 
bar ;  that  the  tower  built  by  Michael  Angelo  in  1567, 
on  the  very  edge  of  the  coast,  and  named  Torre  S.  Michele 
(now  used  as  a  light-house),  is  2,250  yards  inland ;  and  that 
the  tower  built  by  Clement  XII.  at  Fiumicino,  in  ipso 
maris  swpercilio,  as  the  dedicatory  inscription  says,  is  now 
separated  from  the  sea  by  a  line  of  sand-hills  970  yards 
wide.  From  careful  measurements  taken  by  the  astronomer 
Angelo  Secchi  and  by  myself,  the  average  yearly  increase 
of  the  coast  along  the  delta  of  the  Tiber  has  been  deter- 
mined at  nineteen  feet,  from  a  maximum  of  twenty-eight  at 
Ostia,  to  a  minimum  of  ten  at  Fiumicino.  I  may  here  men- 
tion a  fact,  highly  illustrative  of  this  singular  state  of 
things.  The  sacred  island  surrounded  by  the  two  arms  of 
the  Tiber  was  sold  in  1830  by  the  pontifical  government  to 
the  Marchese  Guglielmi,  of  Civita  Vecchia,  with  no  stipu- 
lation whatever,  except  the  payment,  once  and  for  ever, 
of  a  fixed  amount  of  money.  It  was  only  two  years  ago 
that  the  fiscal  authorities  opened  their  eyes  to  the  ir- 
regularity of  the  bargain.  It  has  been  ascertained  that 
since  the  day  the  property  was  bought,  fifty-six  years  ago, 
its  surface  has  been  nearly  doubled  by  the  addition  of  648 
acres  of  ground,  which  should  have  been  added,  of  course, 
not  to  the  patrimony  of  the  Marchese  Guglielmi,  but  to 
that  of  the  nation. 

In  spite  of  so  many  adverse  circumstances,  a  very  brisk 
trade  began  to  be  carried  on  between  Rome,  Ostia,  and  the 
Mediterranean  very  soon  after  the  foundation  of  Ostia. 
The  vessels  sailing  to  it,  if  men-of-war,  could  easily  get 
over  the  bar,  on  account  of  their  light  draught,  and  also 


236     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR. 

on  account  of  the  considerable  propelling  power  they  de- 
rived from  a  numerous  and  well-ordered  crew.  If  mer- 
chantmen, they  had  to  steer  a  different  course,  accord- 
ing to  their  capacity  and  size.  Vessels  under  3,000  modii, 
that  is  to  say,  under  thirty  or  thirty -five  tons  register, 
could  sail  up  the  mouth  of  the  river  easily.  Vessels  of 
larger  tonnage  were  obliged  to  cast  anchor  at  a  certain  dis- 
tance from  the  bar,  and  to  diminish  their  draught  by  trans- 
ferring part  of  their  cargo  to  barges  and  lighters.  These 
particulars  show  that  the  Romans  of  the  republic  never 
tried  to  improve  the  approach  to  their  only  harbor  by 
skilful  engineering.  By  the  help  of  two  palisades,  or  jet- 
ties, which  have  been  built  at  Fiumicino,  vessels  and  steam- 
ers of  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons  are  now  able  to  reach 
Rome  with  perfect  ease. 

With  regard  to  the  navigation  of  the  river  from  Ostia  to 
Rome  in  ancient  times,  we  must  again  make  a  distinction 
between  war  and  trading  vessels.  War  vessels  could  easily 
overcome  the  force  of  the  current  with  their  powerfully- 
manned  oars ;  trading  vessels  had  to  be  towed  up-stream 
by  oxen  and  buffaloes,  for  which  purpose  tow-paths  on 
each  bank  of  the  river  were  opened  and  carefully  paved. 
Navigation  was  suspended  at  nightfall,  when  every  ship 
was  obliged  to  moor  at  the  nearest  station.  There  must 
have  been  at  least  thirty  of  these  stations  between  Rome 
and  the  sea. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  quantity  of  shipping  moored 
at  night  along  the  banks  must  have  been  enormous,  and 
that  the  crews  of  those  days  were  certainly  not  better  nor 
quieter  than  those  of  our  own,  we  need  not  wonder  that 
special  police  precautions  had  to  be  taken  to  insure  order, 
and  to  protect  neighboring  property  from  the  nocturnal 
inroads  of  marauding  sailors.  Vigiles,  that  is  to  say,  a 


THE   TIBER  AND  THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.    237 

special  body  of  constables  and  firemen,  were  stationed  from 
point  to  point  along  the  banks ;  but  the  expense  of  this 
night  watch,  and  of  keeping  their  stations  in  due  repair, 
had  to  be  met  by  the  owners  of  property  facing  the  river, 
who  were  subject  accordingly  to  an  extra  tax,  called  onus 
vigiliarium. 

The  Tiber  was  not  always  navigable  :  in  winter,  because 
its  water  would  sometimes  freeze ;  in  summer,  on  account 
of  shoals  and  sand-banks.  Of  course  I  am  speaking  of  re- 
publican times,  during  which  the  river  was  left  absolutely 
to  itself,  and  to  its  own  caprices,  with  no  check  or  im- 
provement by  hydraulic  means. 

The  best  season  for  navigation  along  the  coast  of  Ostia 
was  from  the  beginning  of  March  to  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber ;  but  there  were  captains  and  merchants  daring  enough 
to  run  the  risk  in  winter.  Vessels  would  generally  sail 
into  the  harbor  in  the  afteritoon,  and  sail  out  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  practice  due  entirely  to  the  regularity  with  which  the 
breeze  blows  from  the  sea  in  the  afternoon,  and  from  the 
land  in  the  morning. 

I  may  add  that,  under  favorable  circumstances,  vessels 
sailing  from  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  could  reach  Alexan- 
dria and  the  Nile  in  eleven  days ;  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar 
in  seven ;  the  Straits  of  Messina  and  even  the  Albanian 
coast  in  five  :  the  coast  of  Barcelona  in  four ;  the  Gulf  of 
Marseilles  in  three  ;  the  coast  of  Africa  in  less  than  two. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  empire,  when  Rome  had  become 
the  centre  of  the  trade  of  the  world,  and  had  gained  a 
population  of  over  a  million  souls,  for  whose  maintenance, 
comfort,  and  luxury  the  produce  of  the  whole  world  was 
scarcely  deemed  sufficient,  the  necessity  of  building  a  large 
and  safe  harbor  forced  itself  upon  the  government.  So 
shallow  had  the  waters  become  at  the  bar  of  the  river,  that 


238     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 

Caligula  was  obliged  to  resort  to  a  simple  biremis,  the 
smallest  kind  of  war  sloop,  to  convey  to  Rome,  from  the 
island  of  Ponza,  the  ashes  of  his  mother  and  brother. 
We  know  also  that  the  Emperor  Claudius  made  an  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  to  land,  after  a  cruise,  and  was  obliged  to 
ride  at  anchor  until  boats  could  be  sent  from  Ostia  to  his 
rescue.  This  explains  why  large  ships  laden  with  grain, 
such  as  the  one  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as 
having  on  board,  besides  its  heavy  cargo,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  souls,  were  obliged  to  avoid  Ostia,  and  to  land  either 
at  Brindisi  or  Pozzuoli. 

Julius  Caesar  was  the  first  statesman  who  proposed  the 
construction  of  a  spacious  harbor,  not  at,  but  near,  the 
mouth  of  the  Tiber  ;  his  project  was  propter  difficultatem 
omissus  (given  up  on  account  of  its  difficulties),  as  well  as 
that  other  curious  plan  of  his  for  opening  a  deep  canal 
from  Rome  to  Terracina,  ^o  save  vessels  the  danger  of 
rounding  Cape  Circeum.  The  honor  of  the  great  under- 
taking was  reserved  to  Claudius,  the  prince  famous  for  his 
gigantic  hydraulic  enterprises,  such  as  the  aqueducts  of  the 
Aqua  Claudia  and  of  Anio  Novus,  eighty-nine  miles  long 
in  all,  and  the  drainage  of  the  Lake  of  Fucino.  I  shall  not 
describe  the  harbor  two  miles  west  of  Ostia,  which  he  suc- 
ceeded in  building,  in  spite  of  untold  natural  difficulties, 
and  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  supreme  council  of 
government  engineers.  It  was  inclosed  by  two  jetties,  each 
809  yards  long.  The  area  of  the  harbor  amounted  to 
691,000  square  yards,  the  depth  from  15  to  18  feet,  with 
an  aggregate  length  of  quays  amounting  to  2,600  yards. 
This  colossal  work  necessitated  the  removal  of  112,000,000 
cubic  feet  of  sand.  Its  only  defect  was  the  faulty  position 
of  the  breakwater,  which  had  been  built,  not  far  out  at  sea, 
so  as  to  shelter  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  but  on  the  line 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE  CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.     239 

connecting  the  ends  of  the  jetties,  leaving  the  two  entrances 
exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the  high  sea.  Tacitus  informs 
us  that,  during  a  fierce  gale  in  the  time  of  Nero,  not  less 
than  two  hundred  vessels  were  lost  in  the  roads.  I  might 
add  that  this  breakwater,  in  spite  of  its  defective  position, 
is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  very  best  example  in  ancient 
times  of  successful  construction  in  deep  water  by  means  of 
caissons. 

Claudius  managed  the  enterprise  in  this  way :  There 
was  moored  at  the  time  —  I  do  not  know  whether  at 
Rome  or  at  Ostia  —  the  huge  ship  by  which  the  great  Vat- 
ican obelisk  had  been  brought  over  from  Egypt.  To  give 
an  idea  of  its  size  I  will  say,  that,  besides  the  obelisk  itself, 
weighing  many  hundred  tons,  the  vessel  was  laden  with  a 
ballast  of  120,000  modii  of  lentils,  corresponding  to  one 
thousand  tons.  Claudius  caused  the  ship  to  be  moored  at 
the  place  designed  for  the  breakwater,  and  to  be  filled 
with  concrete  until  the  weight  of  the  masonry  made  it 
sink.  This  foundation  was  then  strengthened  by  a  gir- 
dle of  rocks  on  the  weather  side,  and  in  due  time  it  grew 
above  the  water-level,  and  was  crowned  with  a  lighthouse 
nearly  two  hundred  feet  high,  built  in  imitation  of  the 
celebrated  Pharos  of  Alexandria. 


Relief  on  a  Sarcophagus  showing  the  Claudian  Harbor. 

Nero,  the  successor  of  Claudius,  conceived  the  grand  idea 
of  making  Rome  itself  a  seaport,  by  dredging  a  deep  canal 


240     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 

between  the  metropolis  and  the  Claudian  harbor.  The  idea 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  carried  into  execution.  The 
same  emperor,  acting  on  the  advice  of  his  favorite  engineers, 
Severus  and  Celer,  began  another  canal  between  the  harbor 
of  Misenum,  on  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  Rome.  If  it  had 
been  completed,  this  canal  would  have  been  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  long,  and  wide  enough  to  allow  the  passage 
of  two  lines  of  quinqueremes  abreast,  the  quinqueremis  be- 
ing the  largest  kind  of  man-of-war  used  in  the  Roman  navy. 
The  cutting  was  begun  in  that  district  of  Campania  Felix, 
near  AmyclaB  and  near  the  gulf  of  Gaeta,  where  the  famous 
Csecubus  was  grown,  the  wine  which,  according  to  Pliny, 
had  held  the  first  rank  among  Italian  brands  from  remotest 
antiquity.  The  only  result  of  Nero's  undertaking  was  to 
ruin  forever  this  noble  wine-growing  district.  The  place  of 
the  lost  Caecubus  on  the  tables  of  the  Roman  aristocracy 
was  henceforth  to  be  taken  by  the  Setinian,  a  wine  which 
Augustus  first  brought  to  the  notice  of  connoisseurs,  and 

which  was  grown  on  the  slopes 
of  the  Lepini  mountains,  facing 
the  Pontine  marshes. 

The  harbor  system  at  Ostia 
was  brought  to  absolute  per- 
fection under  Trajan,  who,  like 
Claudius,  was  devoted  to  grand 
hydraulic  enterprises,  as  shown 
by  the  bridge  thrown  across 
the  Danube  in  its  widest  part ; 
by  the  harbors  of  Ancona  and 
Civita  Vecchia,  still  among  the 
best  and  safest  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  by  the  Trajan 
aqueduct  which  still  supplies  one  fifth  of  the  city.  The 
fact  is  that  the  Claudian  or  outer  harbor  had  long  been  in- 


Medallion  showing  the  Harbor  of 
Trajan. 


THE    TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.     241 

sufficient  for  the  trade  of  the  metropolis.  Everything 
which  taste  or  luxury  required,  and  all  the  supplies  neces- 
sary to  feed  a  population  which  had  increased  to  nearly  two 
millions  of  souls,  had  to  be  landed  and  stored  at  Ostia. 
Egypt  alone  every  year  shipped  nearly  one  hundred  and 
ninety  million  bushels  of  wheat  and  grain.  A  far  larger 
supply  was  imported  from  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Africa,  Numi- 
dia,  Mauretania,  and  from  the  provinces  bordering  on  the 
Danube  and  the  Black  Sea. 

To  the  commercial  transactions  we  must  add  the  trade 
in  building  stone,  so  brisk  and  active  that  even  Tibullus 
complained  that  the  streets  of  the  metropolis  were  always 
obstructed  by  enormous  carts,  loaded  with  transmarine 
columns  and  blocks  :  columns  measuring,  sometimes,  six 
feet  in  diameter  [and  fifty-five  in  height],  like  the  one 
discovered  in  May,  1887,  among  the  ruins  of  Trajan's  tem- 
ple ;  blocks  weighing,  sometimes,  twenty-seven  tons,  like 
the  one  belonging  to  the  temple  of  the  Sun,  now  lying 


The  largest  Block  of  Marble  in  Rome. 


in  the  Colonna  gardens  on  the  Quirinal.     This  mania  for 
rare  and  costly  products  of  quarries,  thousands  of  miles 


242     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 

distant,  began  in  the  year  610  of  Rome.  Q.  Metellus 
Macedonians  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  Roman  citizen 
to  bring  into  fashion  foreign  building  stones  ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, he  is  reproached  by  Velleius  Paterculus  as  the 
first  corrupter  of  republican  simplicity.  Pliny  relates  that 
when  Lucius  Crassus,  fifty-two  years  later,  decorated  his 
house  on  the  Palatine  with  six  columns  wholly  of  Sicilian 
marble,  and  only  twelve  feet  high,  he  was  nicknamed  the 
Palatine  Venus.  Four  years  later,  M.  Lepidus  imported 
for  the  first  time  columns  of  Numidian  marble  (giallo 
antico),  and  was  publicly  censured  for  having  cut  a  thresh- 
old out  of  the  same  valuable  material.  Lucius  Lucullus 
brought  over  from  Egypt  the  first  samples  of  black  marble 
(nero  antico],  called  marmor  Lucullanum  on  his  account. 
Sulla,  the  dictator,  stole  from  the  Olympeion  at  Athens 
many  columns  of  Pentelic  marble.  Marcus  ^Emilius  Scau- 
rus,  to  celebrate  his  nomination  as  ^Edile,  built  a  tempo- 
rary stage  and  decorated  it  with  370  columns  of  Lucul- 
Isean  marble,  33  feet  high.  About  the  same  time,  Mamurra 
was  adorning  his  house  on  the  Ccelian  porticoes  with 
shafts  of  tipollino  and  Carrara  marble.  No  wonder  that, 
at  this  stage  of  luxury,  the  price  of  elegant  private  man- 
sions should  have  reached  fabulous  sums.  Messala  bought 
the  house  of  Antonius  for  a  sum  corresponding  to  $165,000. 
Cicero  gave  for  the  house  of  Crassus  $155,000 ;  the  house 
of  Claudius  had  cost  $655,000 ;  that  of  Scaurus  was  valued 
at  $4,425,000  ;  and  I  am  speaking  of  republican  times  !  No 
wonder  that  the  contractor  for  the  maintenance  of  public 
drains  should  have  required  from  M.  Scaurus  a  security 
against  any  possible  danger  of  the  sinking  of  streets  in 
the  transportation  of  his  columns  and  blocks  of  marble, 
so  heavy  were  they.  A  gentleman  possessed  of  great  per- 
severance, Sig.  Faustino  Corsi,  counted  in  Rome,  forty-one 


THE   TIBER  AND  THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.    243 

years  ago,  7,012  ancient  columns,  or  important  pieces  of 
ancient  columns,  which  had  escaped  destruction.  The  num- 
ber has  been  increased  through  recent  discoveries  and  ex- 
cavations to  nearly  9,000.  I  have  brought  to  light,  in  the 
excavations  intrusted  to  my  care,  390  of  them.  Consider- 
ing what  an  amount  of  destruction,  of  breaking  up,  of  burn- 
ing into  lime,  has  been  accomplished  in  Rome  since  the  fall 
of  the  empire,  there  is  no  danger  of  exaggerating  if  we 
place  the  total  number  of  columns  landed  at  Ostia  at 
50,000  at  least ;  and  columns  represent  but  a  small  item  in 
the  marble  trade  of  ancient  Rome. 

The  Claudian  harbor  was  not  only  a  commercial,  but  also 
a  military  station,  from  which  emperors  and  admirals 
were  wont  to  sail,  escorted  by  powerful  fleets,  on  their 
expeditions  to  the  far-away  border  lands  of  the  empire. 
The  same  harbor  contained  a  central  post  office  for  corre- 
spondence with  the  provinces  beyond  the  sea,  the  existence 
of  which  office  was  revealed  for  the  first  time  in  1874. 
Our  late  King  Victor  Emmanuel,  when  undertaking,  near 
the  end  of  that  year,  some  excavations  on  his  hunting  estate 
of  Castel  Porziano,  between  Ostia  and  Torre  Paterno,  dis- 
covered the  public  square  or  forum  of  a  village,  named 
Vicus  Augustanus  Laurentium,  mentioned  by  Pliny  the 
younger  as  adjoining  his  famous  Laurentine  villa.  In  the 
centre  of  the  square  stood  the  marble  pedestal  of  a  statue, 
raised  by  the  worthy  inhabitants  of  the  village  in  mem- 
ory of  a  local  benefactor,  named  P.  ^Elius  Liberalis,  a 
freedman  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian.  As  usual,  the  career 
of  the  gentleman  so  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow-citizens 
is  described  in  the  legend  on  the  pedestal.  We  are  told  by 
it  how  Liberalis  began  his  career  in  the  finance  department, 
as  prcepositus  mensce  nummularice  fisci  frumentarii  Osti- 
ensis,  that  is  to  say,  as  cashier  of  the  branch  office  for  the 


244     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 

importation  of  breadstuffs,  which  had  been  established  at 
Ostia  as  the  landing-place  of  the  fleets  laden  with  the  har- 
vest of  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire.  In  course  of  time 
he  was  elected  to  another  office,  procurator  pugillationis 
et  ad  naves  vagas,  —  postmaster  of  Ostia  and  superinten- 
dent of  the  fleet  of  despatch  boats. 

Postal  institutions,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word, 
were  not  unknown  in  Roman  times.  To  secure  quick  and 
accurate  intelligence,  even  from  the  remotest  provinces, 
Augustus  established,  all  along  the  great  highways,  a  sys- 
tem of  couriers  mounted  on  swift  horses,  and  stationed  at 
an  average  distance  of  seven  miles  from  one  another.  Later 
on,  he  organized  a  regular  service  of  mail  coaches,  which 
seems  to  have  been  brought  to  a  higher  point  of  perfection 
by  the  Emperor  Trajan.  These  accommodations,  however, 
were  reserved  for  the  benefit  of  government  employees,  — 
such  as  cabinet  messengers,  military  officers,  governors,  and 
so  on,  —  and  very  seldom  were  for  the  benefit  of  private  in- 
dividuals, to  whom  the  privilege  of  using  mail  coaches  was 
granted  only  by  the  emperor  himself,  or  by  the  governor  of 
a  province.  At  the  same  time,  all  the  burden  of  the  insti- 
tution had  to  be  borne  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  villages 
and  towns  crossed  or  approached  by  the  high  road :  they 
were  compelled  to  supply  horses,  mules,  and  oxen,  and  to 
keep  the  stations  in  proper  repair  ;  in  other  words,  they 
had  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  an  organization  from  which 
they  did  not  reap  any  advantage,  except  the  manure  from 
the  stables,  graciously  left  them  by  the  generosity  of  the 
government.  Good,  humane  emperors  did  their  best  to  re- 
lieve the  populace  from  this  indirect  heavy  taxation.  There 
is  a  coin  struck  in  honor  of  Nerva,  with  the  legend,  ve- 
hiculatione  Italics  remissa,  which  signifies  that  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Peninsula  at  least  had  been  exempted  from 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR.     245 

compulsory  supply  of  horses.  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  seem 
to  have  met  the  exigencies  of  the  service  with  their  own 
purse ;  and,  finally,  Severus  Alexander  transferred  perma- 
nently the  burden  from  the  people  to  the  imperial  treas- 
ury. The  postmaster-general,  styled  prcefectus  vehiculo- 
rum,  of  equestrian  rank,  was  selected  generally  from  among 
retired  cavalry  officers :  he  had  under  his  orders  provincial 
postmasters  of  inferior  rank. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  as  regards  the  over-land 
post ;  regarding  the  maritime  post  nothing  was  known  until 
the  inscription  of  P.  ^Elius  Liberalis  was  brought  to  light. 
His  double  office  of  postmaster  and  master  of  despatch 
boats  makes  it  evident  that  the  two  things  were  connected 
as  two  branches  of  the  same  department.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  naves  vagce  of  the  inscription  were  some- 
thing like  the  naves  tabellarice  mentioned  by  Seneca  as 
running  in  front  of  the  fleet  laden  with  grain  from  Egypt, 
to  announce  its  arrival  at  Pozzuoli,  or  like  the  naves  spe- 
culatorice,  corresponding  to  the  avisos  of  the  modern 
navy.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  with  the  combined  action 
of  canvas  and  oars,  finely-modelled  ships  could  accom- 
plish as  quick  a  passage  across  the  sea  as  was  usually 
made  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century.  This 
is  proved,  to  quote  only  one  argument,  by  the  remark- 
able instance  related  by  Plutarch,  in  chapter  sixteen  of 
his  life  of  Cato,  when,  to  impress  the  Senate  with  the  ne- 
cessity delendce  Carthaginis,  he  unfolded  his  mantle,  and 
showed  the  astonished  assembly  a  batch  of  fresh  figs  which 
had  been  gathered  on  the  African  coast  only  two  days 
before. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  harbor  system  at  Ostia  was 
brought  to  absolute  perfection  by  Trajan.  He  was  the 
builder  of  that  magnificent  inner  dock,  which,  although 


246     THE   TIBER  AND   THE  CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 

left  fully  two  miles  inland  by  the  filling  up  of  the  estuary, 
still  exists  in  its  integrity,  and  is  known,  especially  among 
wild-duck  shooters,  as  the  Lago  Trajano,  the  Lake  of  Tra- 
jan. It  had  the  form  of  a  regular  hexagon,  393,000  square 
yards  in  extent,  with  a  line  of  quays  2,156  yards  long,  and 
with  a  constant  depth  of  18  feet.  The  construction  of 
Trajan's  dock  required  the  excavation  and  removal  of 
85,000,000  cubic  feet  of  sand,  and  the  construction  of 
1,940,000  cubic  feet  of  masonry. 

In  modern  times  undertakings  of  the  same  kind  have 
been  accomplished  successfully  even  on  a  larger  scale ;  but 
for  beauty  of  construction,  richness  of  decoration,  and 
splendor  of  materials,  these  will  not  bear  comparison  with 
the  work  of  Claudius  and  Trajan.  We  can  see  with  our 
own  eyes  the  perfection  of  Trajan's  dock,  and  I  better  than 
any  one  else,  because  I  have  been  the  only  archaeologist 
allowed  to  follow  the  excavations  which  Prince  Alexander 
Torlonia,  the  owner  of  the  ruins,  has  carried  on  fer  five 
consecutive  years,  doing  more  harm  to  the  place  in  this 

short  time  than  had  been  done 
in  fifteen  centuries  of  abandon- 
ment and  desolation. 

Of  the  outer  harbor,  built  by 
Claudius,  and  now  inaccessible 
because  of  the  pestilential 
marshes,  we  possess  three  genu- 
ine and  perfect  representations ; 
one  in  bronze,  one  in  colors,  and 
one  in  marble.  The  bronze  one 
Medallion  of  Claudius.  is  a  large  medallion  in  alto- 

rilievo  struck  by  Nero,  with  his 

own  portrait  on  one  side  and  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  harbor 
on  the  other,  reproduced  by  Donaldson  in  Plate  No.  89  of 


w 

ffi 

H 
O 


- 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR.     247 

his  "  Architectura  Numismatica."  The  painted  view  was 
discovered  some  three  centuries  ago  on  the  walls  of  a 
Roman  house  near  the  Subura,  and  has  been  reproduced 


Mooring  Rings  on  the  Tiber. 

and  illustrated  by  Bellori,  Falconieri,  Canina,  Mercklin,  and 
De  Rossi.  The  marble  representation  was  discovered  by 
Prince  Torlonia  in  the  spring  of  1863.  It  is  a  bas-relief, 
of  exquisite  workmanship,  four  feet  six  inches  long,  two 
feet  six  inches  high,  showing  the  inside  of  the  harbor,  with 
its  jetties,  breakwater,  light-house,  colossal  statues,  triumphal 
arches,  and  the  like,  and  two  large  ships,  one  named  the 
"She-Wolf,"  the  other  the  "Lynx":  the  first  sailing  for 
an  expedition  on  the  high  seas;  the  second  furling  her 
canvas  as  she  approaches  the  quay. 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  in  ancient  times,  no  hydraulic 
work  was  considered  perfect  unless  it  joined  to  the  skill 
of  engineering  the  beauty  of  architcture.  What  I  mean 
is  this :  we  are  satisfied,  for  instance,  with  fixing  to  our 


248     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR. 

wharves  iron  rings  and  old  guns  as  moorings  :  in  ancient 
times,  the  rings  (dactylid)  were  cut  in  stone  or  marble,  in 
the  shape  of  a  lion's  head,  or  dolphin  (see  previous  page) ; 
• —  and  the  columns  were  costly  marbles,  and  bore  inscrip- 
tions in  praise  of  the  constructor  of  the  harbor.  We  fence 
the  space  alloted  to  commercial  transactions  with  iron  rail- 
ings ;  the  ancients  enclosed  it  with  colonnades  of  Oriental 
marble.  We  enter  the  docks,  or  the  line  of  customs, 
through  an  iron  gate ;  the  ancients  entered  through  tri- 
umphal arches,  such  as  the  well-known  Arch  of  Trajan 
on  the  eastern  pier  of  the  harbor  of  Ancona.  For  the 
storing  of  merchandise,  we  make  use  of  wooden  and  iron 
sheds,  and,  in  exceptional  cases,  when  we  want  to  impress 
the  stranger  with  our  magnificence,  we  build  brick  ware- 
houses. I  wish  the  reader  could  see,  as  it  has  been  my 
privilege  to  see,  the  beauty  of  the  docks  and  warehouses 
of  Porto,  the  perfection  of  their  reticulated  masonry,  their 
cornices  and  entablatures,  carved  and  moulded  in  terra- 
cotta, their  mosaic  pavements,  their  system  of  drainage  and 
ventilation  ! 

The  aggregate  length  of  the  warehouses  around  Trajan's 
dock  amounts  to  17,500  feet.  At  Ostia,  a  town  nearly 
two  miles  long  by  one  wide,  they  cover  one  half  of  the 
area.  In  Rome  the  statistics  are  even  more  wonderful.  We 
are  now  engaged  in  building  a  new  quarter  in  the  so-called 
"  Prati  di  Testaccio,"  that  is  to  say,  in  the  plain  stretching 
from  the  foot  of  the  Aventine  hill  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
Tiber,  and  surrounding  the  artificial  hill  called  Monte  Tes- 
taccio. This  enormous  extent  of  ground,  amounting  to 
800,000  square  yards,  was  entirely  occupied  by  imperial 
warehouses,  denominated  Horrea  Galbana,  from  the  family 
of  Sulpicius  Galba,  who  owned  the  greater  portion  of  them 
before  they  were  incorporated  in  the  imperial  domain.  Of 


— —      * 


w 


fe  f 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR.    249 

these  public  warehouses,  there  were  in  Rome  290 :  this,  at 
least,  is  the  number  registered  in  the  official  almanac  of  the 
empire,  in  the  original  edition  of  the  year  312  of  our  era. 


Ruins  of  the  Horrea  Galbana. 

Of  course,  not  all  of  them  equalled,  or  even  approached  in 
extent  and  importance,  the  Horrea  Galbana  ;  but  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  more  than  one  half  of  the  population  of 
Rome  was  fed  directly  by  the  emperor,  from  his  own  private 
treasury.  Imagine  what  precautions  must  have  been  taken 
to  avoid  even  the  slightest  suspicion  of  famine,  which 
would  have  brought  with  it  revolution  and  disorder.  Au- 
relius  Victor  says  that,  under  Augustus,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  imperial  period,  not  less  than  48,115,000  bushels  of 
grain  (of  our  standard)  were  imported  from  Egypt,  but 
that  this  quantity  was  sufficient  for  four  months  only : 


250     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR. 

144,345,000  bushels  were  thus  required  for  the  whole  year, 
and  for  a -population  which  had  not  yet  reached  its  max- 
imum of  nearly  two  million  souls. 

The  Horrea  Galbana,  in  imitation  of  which  all  Roman 
storehouses  were  built,  was  composed  of  a  certain  number 
of  courts,  surrounded  by  porticoes  wide  enough  to  allow  the 
free  circulation  of  carts,  and  the  unloading  of  merchandise 
under  shelter.  The  magazines  themselves  opened  upon 
these  porticoes,  and  were  usually  two  stories  high.  The 
lower  floor  generally  was  reserved  for  heavy  and  common 
merchandise,  —  timber,  fuel,  lead,  iron,  tin,  marble,  wine, 
oil,  grain,  honey,  dried  fruit,  dried  fish  ;  the  upper  floor 
for  rare  and  costly  merchandise  and  for  offices  of  adminis- 


Monte  Testaccio  from  the  Tiber.     (In  the  foreground  the  quay  at  which  marbles  were 
landed,  as  it  appeared  during1  the  excavations  of  1868.) 

tration.  Not  long  ago,  I  watched  the  excavation  of  one 
wing  of  the  horrea  which  some  workmen  were  uncovering : 
of  the  four  storerooms  searched  under  my  direction,  the 
first  contained  huge  tusks  of  ivory,  forming  a  total  volume 
of  675  cubic  feet ;  the  second  contained  a  few  bushels  of 
lentils ;  the  third,  a  bed  of  crystalline  sand,  used  by  stone- 
cutters ;  the  fourth  was  filled  up  with  amphorae  of  various 
sizes. 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE  CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.     251 


I  have  mentioned  the  Monte  Testaccio  two  or  three 
times.  This  singular  hill,  unique  of  its  kind,  rises  from 
amidst  the  plain  occupied  by  the  imperial  warehouses  to  the 
height  of  one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  and  covers  an  area  of 
nearly  sixteen  acres.  Its  singularity  arises  from  the  fact 
that  it  is  not  the  work  of  nature,  but  the  mysterious  work 
of  man,  composed  of  millions  and  millions  of  broken  am- 
phorae, and  terra-cotta  jars,  piled  up  in  regular  layers,  in 
imitation  of  geological  strata.  Many  conjectural  explana- 
tions have  been  made  of  its  origin  and  character.  Com- 
mendatore  de  Rossi  has  suggested  one  which  is  worth  con- 
sideration. On  the  quay  of  the  Tiber,  near  the  foot  of  the 
Monte  Testaccio,  where  the  grain  and  wine-laden  ships  and 
barges  were  moored,  there  was  a  large  marble  slab  in- 
scribed with  the  following  notice  :  Quidquid  usuarium  in- 
vehitur,  ansarium  non  debet,  —  "  Whatever  is  imported  of 
first  necessity  for  the  subsistence  of  the  population  is  not 
subject  to  the  octroi."  The  word  used  for  octroi  is  ansa- 
rium., and  the  root  of  the  singular  word  is  ansa,  "  handle," 
evidently  the  handles  of  amphorae,  in  which 
wine,  oil,  dried  fruit,  caviar,  and  salt  fish 
were  shipped  over.  Considering  now  that 
nearly  one  half  of  the  whole  mass  of  Monte 
Testaccio  is  composed  of  handles,  or  ansce, 
Rossi  supposes  that  the  customs  officers,  to 
mark  out  the  amphorae  for  which  duty  (an- 
sarium} had  been  regularly  paid,  would 
knock  away  one  of  the  handles  with  a 
wooden  hammer.  In  other  words  the  Monte 
Testaccio  would  be  nothing  but  a  gigantic 
heap  of  receipts  of  the  import  duty  from 
the  custom-house  of  Rome.  This  explana- 
tion, however  ingenious  and  impressive  it  may  seem,  cannot 


Handle  of  an  Am- 
phora, from  the 
Monte  Testaccio. 


252     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR. 

be  regarded  as  satisfactory.  There  is  no  doubt,  I  admit, 
that  a  large  part  of  the  provisions  for  Rome  was  shipped 
in  amphorae.  The  amphora  is  the  unit,  the  standard  meas- 
ure, by  which  the  capacity  of  a  merchant  vessel  was  calcu- 
lated. In  the  Torlonia  Museum  there  is  a  bas-relief  repre- 
senting the  unloading  of  a  ship,  moored  alongside  the  quay 
in  the  Claudian  harbor.  There  is  a  plank  connecting  the 
ship  with  the  quay,  and  upon  this  plank  a  line  of  sailors 
and  porters,  each  carrying  a  laden  amphora  upon  the  left 
shoulder,  and  a  tessera  or  ticket  in  the  right  hand.  On 
the  jetty,  there  is  a  commissionaire,  or,  perhaps,  customs 
officer  sitting  at  a  desk,  with  a  large  book  before  him  ; 
each  of  the  sailors  and  porters,  in  passing  by  on  his  way 
to  the  warehouse,  throws  the  tessera  or  ticket  on  the  desk. 
Thus  the  scribe  or  customs  officer,  whichever  he  may  have 
been,  had  no  trouble  whatever  in  keeping  his  accounts  ;  he 
had  simply  to  see  that,  for  every  amphora  landed  and  re- 
moved to  the  shed,  a  mark  was  left  on  his  table,  and,  at  the 
end  of  the  operation,  sum  up  the  marks,  and  compare  their 
number  with  the  bill  of  lading  declared  by  the  captain  of 
the  ship. 

An  interesting  instance  of  shipment  by  amphorae  in  an- 
cient times  came  to  light  in  the  spring  of  1885,  when  I  was 
residing  at  Sorrento.  Some  amphorae  were  shown  to  me 
which  evidently  had  remained  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  for 
centuries,  for  they  were  covered  with  the  most  wonderful 
incrustations  of  shells  and  corals,  of  zoophytes  and  mollusks. 
On  inquiring  about  their  origin  and  discovery,  I  was  told 
that  they  had  been  found  under  water,  near  the  Promon- 
torium  Minervae,  now  Capo  della  Campanella,  and  that  they 
belonged  to  a  wreck  many  centuries  old.  I  had  not  then  the 
means  or  the  opportunity  of  verifying  the  accuracy  of  this 
account.  But  about  a  month  later,  at  Porto  d'  Anzio,  a 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.     253 

delightful  little  harbor  thirty-six  miles  from  Rome,  amphorae 
of  the  same  kind,  I  mean  with  the  same  beautiful  incrusta- 
tions, were  offered  for  sale  to  some  of  the  noble  owners  of 
villas  on  the  coast.  This  time  I  was  more  fortunate  in 
tracing  the  origin  and  real  nature  of  the  discovery.  About 
two  miles  west  of  the  castle  and  harbor  of  Astura,  a  place 
well  known  in  the  history  of  Cicero,  Augustus,  and  Con- 
radin  von  Hohenstaufen,  and  about  fifty  yards  from  the 
shore,  which  is  there  exceedingly  shallow,  a  fisherman  had 
discovered  the  wreck  of  an  ancient  Roman  trading  ship,  of 
no  considerable  size,  the  hull  of  which  was  filled  with  am- 
phorae. The  incrustations,  a  work  of  centuries,  had  ce- 
mented, as  it  were,  the  whole  mass  into  a  kind  of  corallif  er- 
ous  rock,  from  which  it  was  very  difficult  to  extricate  an 
amphora  without  breaking  it.  Still,  by  perseverance  and 
skill  in  diving,  the  fisherman  had  succeeded  in  removing 
the  four  or  five  beautiful  specimens  which  I  had  admired  at 
Porto  d'  Anzio. 

But  to  come  back  to  Commendatore  de  Rossi's  explanan 
tion  of  the  origin  of  Monte  Testaccio ;  I  cannot  admit  that 
customs  officers  would  be  allowed  to  knock  away  the  handles 
of  amphorae,  because  the  amphora  was  a  costly  receptacle, 
and  without  ansce  could  not  be  used  any  longer.  If  handles 
enter  in  a  large  proportion  into  the  composition  of  the  mys- 
terious hill,  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  the  most 
solid  and  heavy  portion  of  the  vase,  and  could  not,  like  the 
thin  body  of  the  receptacle  itself,  be  broken  into  atoms. 

The  true  explanation  has  been  given  by  Professor  Hein- 
rich  Dressel  in  a  memoir,  "  Ricerche  sul  Monte  Testaccio," 
published  in  the  "  Annali "  of  the  German  Institute,  1878. 
It  appears  that,  when  the  trade  between  Rome  and  the 
provinces  began  to  assume  a  certain  amount  of  importance, 
the  authorities  of  the  Tiber  set  aside  a  space  of  ground  in 


254     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR. 


the  vicinity  of  the  landing-place,  in  which  the  fragments 
of  amphorae  broken  during  the  journey,  or  in  the  act  of  un- 
loading, could  be  thrown.  These  fragments  were  piled 
up,  heap  after  heap,  of  the  same  height,  until  the  whole 
surface  allotted  by  the  magistrates  was  covered  with  a 
stratum,  four  or  five  feet  high.  The  horizontal  space  hav- 
ing been  thus  all  occupied,  the  deposit  began  to  increase  in 
height ;  and  so  layer  after  layer  was  superimposed,  until  a 
real  hill,  at  least  150  feet  high,  and  nearly  4,000  in  circum- 
ference was  formed.  I  say  at  least  150  feet  high,  because 
we  must  remember  that  it  has  been  for  centuries  a  quarry 
for  building  materials,  and  must  have  lost  a  considerable 
percentage  of  its  former  volume.  Professor  Dressel  has 
been  able  to  investigate  the  surface  only ;  he  examined 
nearly  3,000  fabric-stamps,  impressed  on  handles  of  am- 
phorae before  they  were  baked  in  the  kiln,  and  nearly 

1,000  inscriptions,  written  in 
pencil  and  in  red  or  black  tint 
on  the  body  of  the  amphorae 
by  the  producers  or  under-writ- 
ers,  of  ship-captains  or  customs 
officers ;  and  the  results  of  his 
examination  prove  that  the 
mountain  reached  its  actual 
height  and  size  at  the  following 
dates :  on  the  north  side  be- 
tween the  years  140  and  149  of 
our  era ;  on  the  east  side  be- 
tween 150  and  160;  on  the 
west  side  between  174  and  230. 
The  latest  date,  251,  was  discovered  not  far  from  the 
summit,  on  the  east  side,  but  evidently  out  of  its  original 
place. 


Amphora  from  the  Monte  Testaccio, 
showing  inscriptions. 


THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUDIAN  HARBOR.     255 

I  come  now  to  the  most  important  question  connected 
with  the  archaeology  of  the  Tiber,  to  the  question  of  the 
treasures  which  are  said  to  be  buried  in  its  bed.  The  ques- 
tion may  be  treated  from  a  theoretical  point  of  view,  or, 
practically,  from  the  point  of  view  of  discoveries  actually 
made  in  the  river.  The  idea  that  the  river  contains  an  un- 
told amount  of  wealth,  buried  at  great  depth  in  its  soft, 
yellowish  sand,  has  been  generally  held  since  the  Middle 
Ages.  Familiar  among  the  mistaken  beliefs  is  that  con- 
cerning the  golden  plate  and  the  seven-branched  candle- 
stick, which  Titus  brought  over  from  Jerusalem,  and  which 
are  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  thrown  into  the  Ti- 
ber. No  such  plate  and  no  such  candlestick  ever  were 
thrown  into  the  river ;  the  story  has  no  more  foundation 
than  the  parallel  one  of  the  wealthy  banker  Agostino  Chigi. 
But  setting  aside  all  information  which  is  not  based  upon 
solid  evidence,  I  must  declare  that  the  number  and  the  im- 
portance of  discoveries,  made  in  the  bed  or  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tiber  before  the  present  age,  and  registered  in  ar- 
chaeological books,  are  not  such  as  to  make  us  believe  in 
the  existence  there  of  any  extraordinary  amount  of  riches. 
One  or  two  marble  statues,  one  or  two  busts,  and  some 
blocks  of  rare  marbles,  very  likely  fallen  overboard  in  the 
act  of  unloading,  were,  before  1875,  the  most  noticeable 
objects  discovered  in  the  river.  With  such  scanty  evidence 
at  our  disposal,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  that  any  reg- 
ular search  of  the  stream  would  prove,  if  not  fruitless,  cer- 
tainly not  particularly  remunerative.  Our  judgment  was 
confirmed  by  a  strange  occurrence,  which  took  place  in 
1866.  A  freight  train  having  been  carelessly  coupled  on 
the  gradient  which  leads  from  the  railway  bridge  at  S. 
Paolo  to  the  station  of  Porta  Portese,  fourteen  trucks  began 
to  descend  the  steep  incline  towards  the  bridge  with  such 


256     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CLAUD1AN  HARBOR. 

velocity  that  the  central  span,  which  was  open  for  the  pas- 
sage of  a  steamer,  could  not  be  closed  in  time,  in  spite  of 
the  desperate  efforts  of  the  guardsmen.  The  fourteen 
trucks  fell  through  the  gap  in  mid-stream  and  were  heaped 
up  to  the  height  of  some  twenty  feet  above  water.  It  took 
the  government  engineers  a  little  more  than  two  weeks  to 
make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  removal  of  the 
wreck ;  but  they  had  scarcely  completed  these  when  they 
found,  much  to  their  astonishment,  that  the  whole  mass  had 
disappeared  without  leaving  a  single  trace  of  the  catas- 
trophe. The  fourteen  cars  had  been  swallowed,  as  it  were, 
by  the  quicksands  which  fill  the  bed  to  a  depth  of  some 
thirty  feet. 

From  this  fact  it  appeared  evident  that  the  power  of 
absorption  of  the  Tiber  was  such  as  to  leave  no  hope  of 
the  recovery  of  heavy  objects  sunk  in  its  waters.  As  re- 
gards lighter  objects,  we  were  of  the  opinion  that  a  stream 
running  occasionally  at  the  rate  of  six  feet  per  second  must 
have  carried  them  to  such  a  distance  from  the  town  as  to 
make  a  search  for  them  almost  useless. 

It  is  with  deep  satisfaction  that  I  acknowledge  that  I 
was  deceived  this  time  by  false  appearances,  and  by  false 
deductions.  The  work  on  the  embankment  of  the  Tiber, 
carried  on  in  the  course  of  the  last  ten  years,  has  proved 
beyond  a  doubt,  that  never  has  such  an  abundant  mine  of 
valuable  antiquities  been  open  to  science  before  our  age ; 
that  the  bed  of  the  river  has  power  of  absorption  enough 
to  keep  works  of  art  firmly  and  softly  embedded  in  its  sands, 
but  not  so  deeply  hidden  as  to  escape  the  reach  of  man ; 
that  smaller  articles  have  not  been  carried  far  away  by  the 
violence,  of  the  stream ;  and  lastly,  that  if  we  were  to  collect 
in  a  special  museum  the  contents  of  the  Tiber,  this  museum, 
arranged  in  chronological  sections  from  the  early  ages  of 


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THE   TIBER  AND   THE  CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR.     257 

stone,  of  brass,  of  iron,  to  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IX., 
would  be  absolutely  without  parallel  in  the  world. 

To  those  who  may  find  my  assertions  slightly  extrava- 
gant, or  think  that  the  works  of  art  and  miscellaneous  an- 
tiquities, found  lately  in  the  Tiber,  do  not  correspond  in 
number  and  value  with  the  brilliant  prospect  above  referred 
to,  I  must  reply  that  a  regular  search  of  the  river  has  not 
yet  been  commenced ;  and  that  the  considerable  amount 
of  Tiberine  antiquities  already  put  aside  by  us  has  been 
brought  to  light  quite  accidentally,  during  the  construction 
of  the  embankment.  Fancy  what  would  happen  if  a  truly 
scientific  investigation,  amply  furnished  with  the  proper 
contrivances,  should  be  undertaken  ! 

Twice  only  has  the  bottom  of  the  river  been  explored 
more  or  less  regularly,  although  in  an  exceedingly  small 
space,  and  twice  have  we  gathered  a  surprising  mass  of 
scientific  and  artistic  objects.  The  first  search  was  made 
in  October,  1878,  under  the  first  arch  of  the  Ponte  Sisto, 
on  the  left  (or  cis-tiberine)  side,  in  an  area  sixty  feet  long 
by  fifty  wide.  There  we  discovered  the  remains  of  a  tri- 
umphal arch,  raised  A.  D.  367,  in  honor  of  the  emperors 
Valentinian  and  Valens,  together  with  pieces  of  one  of  the 
bronze  colossal  statues  which  stood  on  the  top  of  the  monu- 
ment. We  found,  also,  an  historical  inscription  describing 
how  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  had  been  surveyed  and  enclosed 
within  a  line  of  stone  cippi,  under  the  rule  of  Vespasian, 
by  Csecina  Paetus,  chief  commissioner  of  the  river,  A.  D. 
71 ;  another  inscription,  describing  how  the  bridge,  BOW 
called  Ponte  Sisto,  had  been  rebuilt  under  the  rule  of  Va- 
lentinian and  Valens,  between  366  and  367,  by  L.  Aure- 
lius  Avianius  Symmachus,  praefect  of  the  city ;  and  then, 
coins,  terra -cottas,  fragments  of  marble  statues  and  bas- 
reliefs  ;  fragments  of  a  third  inscription  which  must  have 


258     THE   TIBER  AND   THE   CL  AUDI  AN  HARBOR. 

measured  320  feet  in  length ;  and  many  architectural  pieces 
belonging  to  the  decoration  of  the  old  bridge. 

The  second  search  took  place  in  the  summer  of  1885, 
right  in  mid-stream,  and  about  250  feet  above  the  island  of 
S.  Bartolomeo.  In  sinking  the  compressed  air  caissons, 
for  the  foundations  of  the  central  pier  of  the  new  bridge 
(Ponte  Garibaldi),  a  lovely  bronze  statue  was  discovered, 
lying  head  downwards  at  a  depth  of  some  thirty-five  feet 
below  the  bottom  of  the  river,  described  and  illustrated  in 
Chapter  XI. ;  a  patera  of  gilt  bronze,  in  repousse  work, 
two  feet  in  diameter  ;  an  inscription  mentioning  a  land  sur- 
vey made  under  Agrippa ;  and  then  the  usual  prodigious 
mass,  of  smaller  objects,  from  the  family  coins  of  the  sev- 
enth century  of  Rome,  to  the  medals  of  devotion  struck 
under  Gregory  XVI.  and  Pius  IX. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    CAMPAGNA. 

MANY  of  my  readers  must  have  seen  districts  of  the  Ro- 
man Campagna,  either  when  walking,  riding,  or  gliding 
swiftly  by  in  the  railway  carriage  ;  many  must  have  read 
descriptions  of  it  in  historical  works,  or  in  works  of  fiction  ; 
but  I  wonder  if  a  passing  view  only,  in  some  particular  sea- 
son of  the  year,  or  a  more  or  less  imaginary  description, 
has  placed  before  them  a  true  picture.  In  a  letter  addressed 
to  his  friend  M.  de  Fontanes,  the  charming  writer  Comte  de 
Chateaubriand  speaks  of  the  famous  district  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  :  — 

"  Imagine  something  like  the  desolation  of  Tyre  and 
Babylon,  of  which  the  Holy  Scripture  speaks :  a  silence 
and  a  solitude  as  vast  as  the  noise  and  tumult  of  the  men 
who  formerly  occupied  the  same  soil.  One  imagines  that 
he  hears  again  the  malediction  of  the  prophet :  ( Venient 
tibi  duo  hcec  in  die  uno,  sterilitas  et  viduitas,'  — ( Two 
things  shall  come  to  thee  in  the  same  day,  sterility  and 
widowhood.'  One  can  see  here  and  there  remnants  of  old 
Roman  roads  in  places  where  now  no  one  passes  ;  one  can 
see  here  and  there  dried-up  beds  of  winter  torrents,  which, 
at  a  certain  distance,  have  the  aspect  of  roads  well  beaten 
and  frequented,  and  in  reality  are  only  the  furrows  exca- 
vated by  a  passing  wave.  One  hardly  meets  with  a  tree ; 
but  everywhere,  in  whatever  direction  one  gazes,  are  ruins 
of  tombs  and  aqueducts,  —  ruins  which  appear  like  a  forest 
of  indigenous  plants,  the  growth  of  an  earth  composed  of 


260  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

the  dust  of  the  dead.  Sometimes,  in  the  large  plain  yon- 
der, one  seems  to  discover  rich,  luxuriant  harvests ;  one  ap- 
proaches :  burnt  grass  and  dry  herbs  have  deceived  the 
eye.  On  examining  these  sterile  harvests  traces  of  ancient 
cultivation  are  discovered.  No  birds,  no  laborers,  no  happy 
country  sounds,  no  activity,  no  bleating  of  flocks ;  no  vil- 
lages clustered  around  the  antique  church.  A  small  num- 
ber of  dilapidated  farm-houses  rise  from  the  midst  of  the 
plain  :  the  windows  and  doors  are  closed ;  no  smoke  rises 
in  graceful  curls  from  the  chimney ;  one  hears  no  noise ; 
in  fact  there  are  no  inhabitants,  —  a  sort  of  savage,  pale 
and  trembling  with  the  chill  of  evening  dew,  gazes  at  these 
dens  of  fever,  like  the  spectres  who  in  Gothic  ballads  de- 
fend the  entrance  to  an  abandoned  chateau.  In  fact,  one 
would  say  that  no  nation  has  dared  to  succeed  the  great 
masters  of  the  world  on  their  native  soil ;  and  that  the  fields 
of  Latium  are  as  they  were  left  by  the  iron  spade  of  Cin- 
cinnatus,  and  by  the  last  Roman  plough." 

After  this  impressive  description  you  might  be  led  to 
believe  that  there  is  nothing  worse  to  behold  than  the 
Roman  Campagna.  You  would  be  greatly  mistaken.  The 
Campagna  has  an  inconceivable  grandeur  of  its  own ;  one 
is  always  ready,  in  contemplating  its  wonderful  aspect,  to 
exclaim  :  Salve,  magna  par  ens  frugum,  Saturnia  tellus, 
magna  virum  !  —  Hail,  land  of  fecundity,  land  of  Saturn, 
mother  of  great  men  !  If  you  look  at  it  from  an  eco- 
nomic point  of  view,  it  will  completely  discourage  you ;  if 
you  contemplate  it  as  an  artist,  as  a  poet,  even  as  a  philos- 
opher, you  would  not  wish,  perhaps,  to  have  it  different 
from  what  it  is.  The  view  of  an  undulating  field  of  grain, 
or  of  a  luxuriant  vineyard,  cannot  give  you  a  stronger  emo- 
tion than  the  aspect  of  this  Campagna,  the  soil  of  which 
has  not  been  rejuvenated  by  a  modern  cultivator,  and  has 


w 

K 
H 


THE   CAMPAGNA.  261 

remained  as  ancient  as  the  ruins  which  cover  it.  Nothing 
can  equal,  or  be  compared  with  the  lines  of  the  Roman  ho- 
rizon, the  gentle  inclination  of  its  plains,  the  soft  and  fugi- 
tive outlines  of  the  mountains  which  surround  it.  Often 
the  valleys  in  the  Campagna  have  been  shaped  by  nature 
like  arenas,  circuses,  and  hippodromes ;  their  slopes  are  cut 
in  steps  and  terraces,  as  if  the  powerful  hand  of  the  Ro- 
mans had  up-turned  and  moulded  all  this  land.  A  pecu- 
liar kind  of  vapor,  rising  in  the  distance,  softens  all  objects, 
and  hides  those  that  might  be  hard  or  ungainly  in  their 
outlines ;  the  shadows  are  never  heavy  or  black  ;  there  are 
never  masses  of  rock  or  foliage  so  dense  or  obscure  that 
some  little  ray  of  light  does  not  penetrate  them.  A  singu- 
larly harmonious  tint  unites  the  earth,  the  heavens,  the 
sea :  by  means  of  an  insensible  gradation  of  color,  the  lines 
of  contact  melt  so  that  one  cannot  determine  where  one 
shade  begins  and  the  other  finishes. 

Doubtless  every  one  has  admired  in  the  landscapes  of 
Claude  de  Lorraine  and  Gaspard  Poussin  that  seemingly 
ideal  light,  more  beautiful  almost  than  nature  itself.  Well, 
this  is  the  light,  this  is  the  atmosphere  of  Rome.  I  never 
tire  of  looking  from  some  lofty  point  —  for  instance,  from 
the  Parnassus  or  Belvedere  of  the  Villa  Medici  on  the  Pin- 
cian  —  at  the  sun  setting  behind  the  stately  cypresses  of 
Monte  Mario,  or  behind  the  pines  of  the  Villa  Pamphili, 
planted  by  Le  Notre.  Often  I  have  sailed  up  the  Tiber,  as 
far  as  its  junction  with  the  Anio  under  the  hill  of  Antemnae, 
in  order  to  enjoy  the  grand  scene  of  the  declining  day. 
The  summits  of  the  Sabine  Mountains  appear  as  if  they 
were  melted  in  lapis  lazuli  and  opals,  while  their  slopes 
and  bases  are  steeped  in  a  violet  or  purple  tint.  Sometimes 
beautiful  clouds,  resembling  light  chariots  of  gods  borne 
along  with  inimitable  grace  and  swiftness  by  the  wind, 


262  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

make  one  almost  believe  in  former  apparitions  of  the  in- 
habitants of  Olympus,  under  this  mythological  sky.  Some- 
times ancient  Rome  seems  to  have  spread  on  the  western 
horizon,  under  the  last  steps  of  the  god  of  day,  all  the  pur- 
ple robes  of  her  consuls  and  of  her  Caesars.  This  rich  and 
powerful  effect  does  not  fade  as  quickly  as  in  northern  cli- 
mates ;  when  you  think  that  the  last  tints  are  dying  away, 
they  suddenly  light  up  again  in  some  other  part  of  the  hori- 
zon ;  one  twilight  follows  another,  and  the  magical  effect 
of  sunset  is  thus  indefinitely  prolonged.  It  is  true  that  at 
this  hour  the  Campagna  rests  in  deep  repose  :  one  hears 
no  pastoral  songs ;  the  laborers  have  migrated  to  other  cli- 
mates :  dulcia  linquimus  arva  !  But  one  still  can  see  the 
gigantic  white  oxen,  raised  on  the  banks  of  the  Clitumnus, 
or  herds  of  half-wild  horses,  descending  to  the  bed  of  the 
Tiber,  to  refresh  themselves  in  its  cool  waters.  One  imag- 
ines one's  self  transported  to  the  time  of  the  old  Sabines ;  to 
the  age  of  Evander  the  Arcadian,  when  the  river  was  called 
Albula ;  to  the  age  of  the  pious  ^Eneas,  sailing  up  the  un- 
known waters  to  moor  his  ship  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine. 

I  admit  that  the  views  of  Naples,  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  of 
Constantinople,  are  more  dazzling  than  that  of  Rome.  For 
instance,  when  the  brilliant  sun  or  our  own  satellite  rises 
above  Vesuvius,  like  a  bah1  of  fire  thrown  up  by  the  vol- 
cano, the  bay  of  Naples,  with  its  banks  fringed  with  bloom- 
ing groves  of  lemon  and  orange  trees ;  with  its  island  of 
Capri,  rising  in  snowy  whiteness  from  the  sapphire  waters 
of  the  Tyrrhenian ;  with  the  hills  of  Posilippo  clothed  in 
myrtle,  stretching  towards  Baise  and  Miseno ;  all  this  land 
sung  by  Virgil  presents,  no  doubt,  a  truly  magic  aspect. 
But,  in  my  opinion,  it  has  not  the  grandeur  of  the  Roman 
Campagna.  However  that  may  be,  one  soon  becomes  pro- 
digiously attached  to  this  famous  soil. 


THE   CAMPAGNA. 


263 


Has  the  Campagna  always  been  in  its  present  state  of 
fascinating  desolation  ?  By  no  means.  It  is  sufficient  to 
take  a  ride  across  its  fields  and  valleys  in  any  direction  you 
may  choose,  to  meet  at  every  step  with  remains  of  villas 
and  farms  which  in  ancient  times  must  have  been  teeming 
with  life.  These  villas  are  all  modelled  on  a  uniform 
pattern,  rising  in  steps  and  terraces  from  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  each  terrace  supported  by  huge  foundation  walls,  or- 
namented with  niches,  and  nymphsea.  The  lower  terraces 


The  Nymphaeum  in  Hadrian's  Villa. 

never  contain  buildings  ;  they  were  simply  laid  out  in  gar- 
dens, and  less  frequently  in  an  orchard :  the  mansion  of 
the  landlord  is  perched  on  the  very  top  of  the  hill,  and 
within  the  area  of  the  highest  terrace.  This  general  type 
of  a  Latin  villa  was  praiseworthy  for  two  reasons:  first, 


264:  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

because  from  the  edge  of  each  platform  the  eye  could  freely 
command  every  point  of  the  horizon ;  secondly,  because, 
with  a  comparatively  small  quantity  of  water,  many  foun- 
tains and  nymphaea  could  be  supplied,  by  taking  advantage 
of  the  surplus  of  every  basin,  and  making  as  many  shows 
of  it  as  there  were  steps  and  terraces.  But  it  is  incredible 
how  ingenious  and  clever  ancient  architects  proved  them- 
selves to  be,  in  adapting  the  general  type  of  villa  to  the 
natural  conditions  of  the  special  tract  of  land  which  had 
been  selected  for  its  establishment ;  and  equally  surprising 
was  their  skill  in  exposing  palace  and  gardens  to  the  north, 
or  to  the  mid-day  sun,  according  as  their  patron  wished  to 
have  a  winter  or  a  summer  country  residence. 

From  the  last  century  of  the  republic,  and  on  a  much 
larger  scale  under  the  imperial  rule,  the  wealthiest  patri- 
cian families  owned  not  one  but  several  villas,  planned  and 
arranged  on  a  different  principle,  in  accordance  with  their 
destination  of  winter,  spring,  or  summer  residences.  The 
two  ill-fated  brothers,  Quintilius  Condianus  and  Quintil- 
ius  Maximus,  owned  a  magnificent  winter  seat  at  the  fifth 
milestone  of  the  Appian  Way  ;  indeed,  so  magnificent  that 
the  Emperor  Commodus  caused  both  brothers  to  be  mur- 
dered, to  secure  by  confiscation  what  he  had  failed  to 
secure  by  direct  purchase.  This  villa,  the  ruins  of  which 
cover  an  area  of  nearly  a  square  mile,  was  only  seven  miles 
distant  from  another,  built  by  the  same  family  on  the  slopes 
of  Tusculum,  as  a  summer  resort.  The  Valerii,  likewise, 
owned  a  line  of  villas,  beginning  at  the  second  milestone 
of  the  Via  Latina,  and  ending  near  the  Castrimoenium,  the 
modern  Marino,  which  was  adaptable  to  the  various  seasons 
of  the  year.  The  same  practice  is  known  to  have  prevailed 
in  the  Servilian,  the  Flavian,  the  Claudian,  and  other  fam- 
ilies of  the  old  aristocracy. 


THE  CAMPAGNA.  265 

We  must  not  consider,  however,  this  abundance  and  va- 
riety of  country  seats  as  an  extravagant  display  of  luxury. 
The  old  Roman  aristocracy  was  educated  under  the  same 
principles  as  the  English  aristocracy  is  at  the  present  time. 
Latin  gentlemen  of  the  republic  and  of  the  empire,  as  Eng- 
lish gentlemen  of  nowadays,  were  not  brought  up  in  lazi- 
ness and  inactivity,  but  served  their  country  with  their  in- 
telligence and  their  strength,  fighting  gallantly  in  their 
youth  against  the  foes  of  the  commonwealth,  and  sharing 
the  cares  of  government  in  their  mature  age.  From  iden- 
tity in  the  education  and  principles  of  the  two  aristocracies 
came  identity  in  their  systems  of  life.  Our  patricians,  like 
the  English,  had  houses  in  town,  in  keeping  with  the  rank 
of  the  owners,  in  which  hospitality  was  practised  during 
the  winter,  as  it  is  now  during  the  London  season ;  though 
in  Rome  the  season  was,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  exceedingly 
short.  As  soon  as  spring  began  to  appear,  with  its  tepid 
breezes  and  brilliant  sunshine,  the  aristocracy  dispersed  at 
once  to  their  country  seats ;  I  mean  to  those  the  average 
distance  of  which  did  not  exceed  six  or  seven  miles  from 
the  outskirts  of  the  metropolis.  So  short  a  distance,  which 
they  could  cover  with  their  swift  Numidian  ponies  in  less 
than  an  hour,  allowed  them  to  attend  daily,  and  without 
inconvenience,  to  their  official  duties,  —  to  the  administra- 
tion of  public  waters  and  granaries ;  to  the  prefecture  of 
the  Tiber  and  its  docks  and  harbors ;  to  the  government 
of  the  city,  and  of  the  prsetorium ;  to  the  administration  of 
justice  ;  to  court  duties  ;  to  the  sittings  of  Parliament.  At 
the  same  time,  the  comparative  quiet  of  their  delicious 
dwellings,  half  urban,  half  rustic,  helped  them  wonderfully 
to  recover  the  peace  broken  or  lost  among  the  vicissitudes 
of  political  life,  to  shelter  themselves  from  court  intrigues  ; 
to  regain  strength  and  vigor,  after  the  hardships  of  long 


266  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

journeys,  made  through  the  military  outposts,  along  the  far. 
away  frontiers,  and  through  the  provinces  beyond  the  sea. 
How  like  the  Roman  aristocracy  of  the  present  day ! 

We  must  attribute  to  the  state  of  things  which  I  have 
described  the  origin  of  that  circle  of  villas  which  sur- 
rounded the  Capitol  within  a  radius  of  four  to  ten  miles 
from  the  umbilicus  Romce  ;  otherwise  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  explain  why  the  Romans  should  have  spent  for- 
tunes for  building-sites  which  could  not  be  inhabited  in 
summer,  as  they  were  at  that  season  hotter  and  less  salubri- 
ous than  the  town  itself.  The  number  of  these  villas  is 
really  incredible  :  one  must  have  scoured  the  Campagna  as 
I  have  for  twenty  years ;  one  must  have  explored  every  re- 
motest corner,  on  each  side  of  the  Tiber  and  of  the  Anio, 
as  I  have  done,  to  recognize  how  near  to  truth  comes  the 
theory  of  those  who  extend  the  surface  of  Rome  as  far  as 
the  neighboring  territories  of  Ostia,  Bovillse,  Tusculum, 
Tibur,  and  Veii.  In  the  golden  age  of  the  empire,  before 
the  transformation  of  Rome  into  an  intrenched  camp,  ac- 
complished by  Aurelian,  it  was  impossible  to  define,  even 
approximately,  its  extent.  To  the  thick  nucleus  of  the  four- 
teen regions  into  which  Augustus  had  divided  the  city,  to 
the  houses  adjoining  one  another  succeeded  a  second  ring 
of  houses  separated  by  small  gardens ;  a  third,  of  houses 
separated  by  larger  estates ;  and  lastly,  a  fourth  ring  of 
great  villas  and  huge  latifundia,  each  one  constituting  a 
populous  and  flourishing  village.  These  groups  of  rustic 
dwellings  were  laid  out  in  the  town  fashion,  with  the  shrines 
of  the  compital  or  domestic  gods  at  the  street  corners,  and 
with  local  festivities  and  solemnities,  registered  in  the  Cal- 
endars discovered  by  Colocci  and  by  Delia  Valle.  One  who 
attempts  in  our  days  to  cross  the  wilderness  of  Fiorano, 
for  instance,  and  of  Capobianco  on  the  Via  Appia  and  on 


THE  CAMPAGNA.  267 

the  Via  Nomentana,  finds  it  difficult  to  believe  that,  in  by- 
gone days,  these  very  solitudes  could  have  resounded  with 
the  joyful  mirth  of  large  gatherings  of  the  peasantry ;  but 
of  those  meetings,  festivities,  and  games,  we  possess  records 
engraved  on  stones  discovered  on  the  spot.  To  this  radia- 
tion of  life  from  the  city,  decreasing,  it  is  true,  in  direct 
proportion  with  the  distance,  but  decreasing  little  by  little, 
without  the  sudden  transition  of  the  present  day,  —  to  this 
radiation  of  life,  I  say,  let  us  add  the  intensity  of  traffic  on 
the  high-roads,  on  the  cross-lanes,  on  the  flood  and  on  the 
banks  of  the  Tiber;  let  us  think  of  the  aqueducts,  run- 
ning on  triumphal  arcades  through  the  inhabited  centres 
of  the  district,  distributing  everywhere  lif e  and  health ;  let 
us  mould  again  those  shapeless  ruins  into  temples,  shrines, 
and  sanctuaries,  lining  at  short  intervals  the  banks  of  the 
high-roads  with  roofs  of  bronze,  glistening  under  the  rays 
of  the  sun  ;  let  us  picture  to  the  mind  those  endless  marble 
cemeteries,  shaded  by  the  ilexes  of  the  villa,  and  by  the 
olive-trees  of  the  farm  ;  let  us  animate  the  brilliant  scene 
with  groups  of  countrymen  carrying  into  town  the  produce 
of  the  fertile  soil,  with  pious  pilgrims  offering  libations  and 
flowers  on  the  tombs  of  dear  ones,  and  with  travellers  car- 
ried on  the  lectica  or  driving  the  rheda  or  the  petorritum, — 
and  we  shall  thus  gain  a  faint  idea  of  the  aspect  of  the 
Roman  Campagna  in  bygone  times. 

The  picture  which  I  have  endeavored  to  sketch  is  not 
imaginary ;  it  represents  with  exactness  the  state  of  things 
under  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  empire,  as  I  have  been 
able  to  reconstruct  it,  by  the  aid  of  daily  discoveries,  and 
on  the  evidence  of  many  thousand  published  and  unpub- 
lished documents  which  I  have  collected.  Wherever,  since 
1867,  I  have  seen  excavations  made  in  the  Campagna, 
always  and  everywhere,  even  in  the  most  remote  and  se- 


268  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

eluded  corners,  they  have  brought  to  light  traces  of  the 
work  of  man,  —  roads,  bridges,  aqueducts,  drains,  rustic 
houses,  patrician  villas,  mosaic  pavements,  enclosure  walls, 
tombs,  granaries,  wine  cellars,  oil  presses,  and  besides,  am- 
phoraB,  oil  jars,  coins,  utensils,  bricks,  water-pipes,  building 
materials,  sculptured  marbles,  busts,  statues,  inscriptions, 
and  so  forth.  Totally  unknown,  I  am  sure,  to  my  foreign 
readers,  and,  I  dare  say,  to  my  countrymen  also,  are  the 
names  of  the  "  tenuta  (farm)  di  Benzone,"  lost  in  the  wil- 
derness crossed  by  the  Via  PraBnestina  ;  of  the  "  tenuta 
delle  Casaccie,"  lost  in  the  woodlands  crossed  by  the  Via 
Clodia ;  or  the  savage  glen  pf  Monte  Oliviero  on  the  Fla- 
minia ;  desolate  places,  miles  distant  from  the  nearest  inhab- 
ited house.  And  yet  the  excavations  made  under  my  per- 
sonal supervision  in  these  three  places,  in  1873,  1878,  and 
1883,  seemed  like  excavations  made  in  Rome  itself,  so  grand 
was  the  extent  and  the  magnificence  of  the  buildings,  the 
perfection  of  roads  and  drains,  the  abundance  of  works  of 
statuary.  If  any  one  supposes  the  tints  of  my  picture  too 
enthusiastic,  let  him  examine  de  visu,  or  at  least  let  him 
read  the  official  account  of  the  excavations  which  my  learned 
friends,  the  brothers  Lugari,  are  carrying  on,  in  their  farm 
of  Tor  Carbone,  at  the  fourth  milestone  of  the  Appian  Way, 
with  a  view  to  laying  open  permanently  a  district  of  the  an- 
cient Campagna.  Although  these  researches  are  far  from 
being  completed,  the  work  accomplished  in  the  last  five 
years  by  the  Lugaris  is  enough  to  convey  to  the  visitor  the 
true  idea  of  the  perfection  to  which  the  suburban  districts 
were  brought  under  the  empire.  The  ground  is  crossed  at 
right  angles  by  roads,  as  frequent  as  they  would  be  in  the 
city  itself  ;  and  these  roads  are  so  neatly  levelled  and  paved, 
and  their  sidewalks  so  cleverly  arranged,  that  one  would 
scarcely  believe  them  to  be  country  roads.  Some  cross-lanes 


THE   CAMPAGNA.  269 

were  on  private  property,  and  were  closed  accordingly  with 
gates  at  each  end.  You  can  see  still  the  very  walls,  or  ma- 
cerice,  as  they  were  styled  in  ancient  times,  enclosing  the 
fields ;  and  in  these  fields,  remains  of  rustic  dwellings,  of  a 
modest  appearance,  but  wonderfully  well  adapted  to  their 
purpose.  They  show  what  care  Roman  landlords  took  of 
the  hygiene  and  welfare  of  their  peasants.  The  ground- 
floor  rooms  are  provided  with  double  pavements,  for  the  cir- 
culation of  the  hot  air,  or  vapor,  in  the  interstices,  —  a  pre- 
caution most  commendable  in  damp,  low  lands.  Great  care 
was  bestowed  on  the  drainage  of  the  house,  which  was  al- 
ways carried  to  a  great  distance,  and  forced  through  its 
channel  by  a  permanent  jet  of  water.  Remarkable,  also, 
were  the  arrangements  for  the  supply  of  water;  which, 
when  not  actually  needed  for  drinking,  bathing,  or  irrigat- 
ing purposes,  was  stored  in  huge  reservoirs  and  cisterns, 
ready  for  any  extraordinary  emergency.  At  the  crossing  of 
the  roads,  or  quadrivia,  there  were  fountains  for  the  accom- 
modation of  travellers  and  of  their  horses  ;  in  fact,  the  gen- 
tleness and  kindness  of  those  happy  generations  went  so  far 
as  to  provide  the  weary  pilgrim  with  seats,  shaded  by  trees, 
where  he  could  rest  during  the  hottest  hours  of  the  day. 

The  starting  of  a  patrician  family  for  its  country  manor 
(I  quote  Becker  and  Friedlander  almost  verbatim)  was  al- 
ways an  event  of  great  importance,  witnessed  by  idlers  with 
curiosity  and  admiration.  Driving  in  a  carriage  was  for- 
bidden in  Rome,  at  least  during  the  first  century  of  the 
empire,  on  account  of  the  narrowness  and  crookedness  of 
the  streets,  filled  as  they  were  with  a  motley,  bustling  crowd, 
especially  about  the  sixth  hour  of  the  day,  when  there  was 
a  general  cessation  from  business,  and  people  were  wont  to 
take  their  morning  meal.  Great  annoyance  was  created  by 
sellers  of  matches  (sulphuratd]  and  of  boiled  peas,  who 


270  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

would  sometimes  take  in  exchange  broken  glass  instead  of 
money.  The  abode  of  these  miserable  street  pedlars  was 
Trastevere,  from  which  quarter  they  dispersed  every  morn- 
ing through  the  whole  city,  but  especially  in  the  direction 
of  the  infamous  Subura.  The  streets  were  choked,  too, 
with  clusters  of  disagreeable  shops,  built,  in  spite  of  muni- 
cipal regulations,  by  hucksters  and  merchants  of  all  sorts, 
barbers  and  salve  -  sellers,  butchers  and  pastry  cooks,  but 
chiefly  by  wine-sellers,  whose  tables,  protruding  far  into  the 
street,  were  covered  with  bottles  which  were  fastened  by  lit- 
tle chains,  lest  they  might  be  stolen  by  some  passer-by. 

To  gain  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  ladies  and  gentlemen 
of  fashion  made  use  of  litters.  These  litters  were  manned 
by  six  powerful  slaves  in  bright  liveries ;  the  rest  of  the 
escort  were  dressed  in  brown  travelling  suits.  Numbers  of 
slaves  were  despatched  in  advance  with  the  baggage,  while 
others  followed  in  the  rear,  the  lord  and  the  lady  being 
accompanied  by  those  only  whose  services  were  deemed 
absolutely  indispensable.  The  carriage  which  awaited  the 
travellers  outside  the  gate  was  the  rheda,  a  sort  of  light 
vehicle  drawn  by  a  couple  of  swift  ponies.  The  body  of  the 
carriage  was  ornamented  with  beautifully  wrought  foliage 
in  metal,  and  Medusa  heads.  The  hood  of  leather  served 
as  a  protection  against  the  hot  rays  of  the  midday  sun, 
whilst  the  purple  hangings,  half  fastened,  admitted  an 
agreeable  current  of  cool  air,  and  protected  the  inmates  from 
being  incessantly  seized  by  the  hands,  addressed,  or  kissed, 
by  passers-by.  This  exceedingly  disagreeable  fashion,  which 
began  to  prevail  under  Augustus,  is  ridiculed  in  several 
humorous  epigrams  by  Martial.  Not  merely  at  the  official 
morning  salutation,  but  at  every  meeting  in  the  streets,  a 
person  was  exposed  to  a  shower  of  kisses,  from  friends  and 
acquaintances,  in  fact  from  any  one  who  desired  to  show 


THE   CAMPAGNA. 


271 


his  attachment,  whether  farmer,  tailor,  barber,  shoemaker, 
or  what  not.  The  misanthrope  Tiberius,  who  was  unwilling 
to  be  humbled  by  this  custom,  issued  an  imperial  decree 


The  Main  Portion  of  Hadrian's  Villa,  showing  to  what  excess  the  buildings  and 
architectural  decorations  were  carried  in  ancient  villas,  and  how  little  space  was 
left  for  landscape  effects. 

against  it ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  done  much  good, 
as  the  jokes  of  the  poet  above  alluded  to  prove.  In  winter 
only  was  it  improper  to  annoy  another  with  one's  cold  lips. 

Roman  villas,  as  a  general  rule,  but  especially  those  of 
the  Campagna,  were  divided  into  two  distinct  and  inde- 
pendent portions.  The  first  comprised  the  lord's  manor, 
with  more  or  less  spacious  gardens  surrounding  it :  the  sec- 
ond comprised  the  farmer's  house,  the  various  stables  and 
barns,  the  dwelling  of  the  slaves,  orchards,  olive-yards,  vine- 
yards, cornfields,  woodlands,  and  so  forth. 

The  characteristic  of  an  ornamental  Roman  garden  was 
the  entire  absence  of  natural  beauty.  Its  style  can  be  com- 
pared, to  a  certain  extent,  to  the  French  and  Italian  villas 


272  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

of  the  sixteenth  century.  No  tree  or  shrub  dared  to  grow 
in  its  own  natural  fashion,  for  the  topiarius,  or  head  gar- 
dener, was  ready  instantly  to  force  it  into  the  prescribed 
form.  The  allees  were  shut  in  by  walls  of  green  box  or 
laurel,  with  windows,  doors,  and  niches  imitating  the  archi- 
tecture of  palaces.  Here  and  there  appeared  threatening 
forms  of  wild  beasts,  bears  and  lions,  serpents  winding 
themselves  round  the  trees,  all  cut  by  the  skilful  hand  of 
the  topiarius  out  of  the  green  cypress,  box,  yew-tree,  myr- 
tle, and  laurel.  The  reluctant  foliage  was  compelled  to 
imitate  letters,  indicating  in  one  part  the  name  of  the 
owner,  in  another  the  name  of  the  artist  to  whose  invention 
the  garden  owed  its  present  appearance.  Grounds  laid  out 
in  this  style,  in  which  vegetation  is  forced  into  stiff  geomet- 
rical figures,  and  every  vestige  of  nature's  free  dominion 
annihilated,  are  not  only  described  by  ancient  writers,  es- 
pecially in  the  famous  letter  of  Pliny  the  younger,  on  his 
Laurentine  estate,  but  actually  painted,  I  might  almost  say 
photographed,  in  the  frescoes  of  Pompeian  dining-rooms,  in 
those  of  the  greenhouse  in  the  gardens  of  Maecenas  on  the 
Esquiline,  and  in  those  found  in  the  villa  of  Livia,  ad  Gal- 
Unas  Albas,  near  the  eighth  milestone  of  the  Via  Flaminia. 
An  excuse  for  such  absurdities  can  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  means  afforded  by  nature  in  those  days  were  but 
small  in  comparison  with  the  abundant  resources  of  our 
time.  Foreign  countries  had  not  as  yet  unfolded  their  rich 
treasures  of  rare  and  splendid  vegetation,  nor  their  thou- 
sand shrubs  and  flowers :  restricted  to  a  barren  flora,  but 
little  improved  by  culture,  the  Romans  sought  to  create,  by 
artificial  means,  a  striking  contrast  to  the  free  forms  of  na- 
ture. This  is,  at  all  events,  the  excuse  given  by  Becker. 

The  trees  represented  in  the  magnificent  paintings  of  the 
villa  of  Livia  are  the  laurel,  the  pomegranate,  the  stone 


THE   CAMPAGNA.  273 

pine,  three  different  kinds  of  firs,  corbezzoli,  popularly 
called  sea  cherries,  ilexes,  plane  trees,  myrtles,  and  cy- 
presses. Great  ingenuity  was  displayed  in  training  ivy, 
evergreens,  and  acanthus  upon  the  walls,  the  trees,  and  the 
terraces.  Paths  were  usually  covered  with  trellises  and 
green  arbors,  constructed  of  canes  and  vines ;  and  their 
floors  were  spread  with  yellow  golden  sand.  Windows  were 
generally  lined  with  flower  pots. 

Greenhouses  were  very  common ;  winter  grapes,  aspara- 
gus, gherkins,  watermelons,  and  flowers  were  forced,  by  the 
proper  exposure  of  the  conservatories  to  the  mid-day  sun, 
and  by  a  proper  shelter  of  glass.  Much  might  be  said 
concerning  the  flowers  known  to  the  Romans  ;  for,  though 
the  flora  of  those  days  was  but  poor  in  comparison  with 
ours,  still  there  is  no  truth  in  the  assertion  that  the  Ro- 
mans contented  themselves  solely  with  wild  plants,  and 
neither  laid  out  flower  gardens,  nor  cultivated  any  exotics. 
Violets  and  roses  were  certainly  the  main  ornament  of 
pleasure  grounds.  Next  came  the  bulbous  roots,  the  cro- 
cus, narcissus,  lilies  of  more  than  one  sort,  iris,  hyacinth, 
poppy,  amarynth,  and  so  on.  The  Roman  flower,  however, 
the  flower  par  excellence,  was  the  rose.  So  excessive  was 
the  demand  for  roses  in  the  cold  season,  that  to  supply  the 
requirements  of  the  market,  and  to  meet  the  deficiency  of 
native  production,  they  were  imported  from  Egypt ;  means 
were  employed,  of  course,  for  keeping  them  as  fresh  as  pos- 
sible during  the  journey.  Another  famous  place  for  the 
winter  rose  trade  was  Psestum,  and  the  surrounding  low- 
lands, bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Salerno,  biferi  rosaria 
Pcesti,  as  Virgil  calls  those  gardens,  because  they  bloomed 
for  a  second  time  in  the  late  autumn. 

We  must  not  suppose  that  all  the  villas  of  the  Roman 
Campagna  were  absolutely  identical  in  stiffness,  of  the  type 


274  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

I  have  attempted  to  describe;  and  that  in  every  one  of 
them  nature  was  constrained  into  uncongenial  forms.  I 
have  excavated  and  examined  one,  at  least,  from  which  art 
had  been  thoroughly  banished,  and  everything  left  to  the 
free  play  of  nature.  The  author  and  inspirer  of  this  mag- 
nificent park  is  the  over-calumniated  young  Emperor  Nero, 
the  Hausmann  of  ancient  Borne.  The  place  selected  by 
him  is  one  of  the  wildest  gorges  of  the  Simbruine  spurs  of 
the  Apennines,  a  little  above  the  modern  town  of  Subiaco. 
Through  this  gorge  the  icy  stream  of  the  Anio  forces  its 
way,  leaping  by  three  graceful  falls  into  the  valley  below. 
By  damming  it  three  times,  with  dams  more  than  two  hun- 
dred feet  high,  he  created  three  mountain  lakes,  where  he 
could  indulge  in  the  sport  of  trout  fishing  and  in  cold  bath- 
ing, his  passion  for  hydropathy  being  well  known.  These 
sheets  of  water  were  overshadowed  by  enormous  oaks  and 
beeches,  and  overhanging  rocks,  in  the  interstices  of  which 
grew  arborescent  ferns.  The  two  hunting  lodges,  on  either 
side  of  the  glen,  were  connected  by  a  bridge  spanning  the 
abyss  at  a  prodigious  height.  One  of  these  lodges,  discov- 
ered three  years  ago,  directly  under  the  famous  Sacro-Speco, 
the  abbey  founded  by  St.  Benedict,  makes  us  wonder  at  its 
extreme  simplicity.  But  what  perfection  in  that  simplicity ! 
What  exquisite  wall  paintings  !  what  exquisite  mosaic  pave- 
ment, and  marble  ornamentation  !  We  found,  in  the  course 
of  the  excavations,  only  one  marble  statue,  and  that  lacks 
a  head ;  but  this  statue,  headless  as  it  is,  is  perhaps  the 
only  purely  Greek  work  which  has  come  to  light  since  I 
began  to  take  an  interest  in  excavations.  It  represents  a 
youthful  male  figure,  nude,  in  a  leaning  posture,  perhaps 
engaged  in  athletic  exercises.  The  Secretary  of  State  for 
Public  Instruction,  to  whom  the  care  of  national  monuments 
belongs,  has  accepted  our  suggestion  of  leaving  the  statue 


THE   CAMPAGNA.  275 

in  the  Benedictine  abbey  close  by ;  and  henceforth  visitors 
will  surely  be  struck  by  the  appearance  of  this  wonderful 
specimen  of  Greek  art  under  the  mediaeval  cloisters  of  an 
abbey,  hidden  in  one  of  the  wildest  canons  of  the  central 
Apennines. 

Trajan,  who  was  fond  of  warlike  and  hunting  sports, 
moved  a  step  farther  in  the  direction  chosen  by  Nero  ;  he 
built  another  lodge,  on  the  very  summit  of  the  pass  lead- 
ing from  Nero's  villa  to  the  source  of  the  Anio,  at  a  height 
of  3,200  feet  above  the  sea.  Words  cannot  properly  de- 
scribe the  natural  attractions  of  the  place  selected  by  the 
imperial  sportsman  for  his  summer  residence.  Limestone 
peaks  7,000  feet  high,  marked  occasionally  with  snow  even 
in  the  heart  of  summer;  green  valleys,  resorted  to  as  a 
summer  pasture-ground  by  flocks  of  cattle  from  the  Cam- 
pagna;  dense  oak  and  beech  forests,  the  haunts  of  bears 
and  wolves ;  mountain  streams  teeming  with  trout,  —  in 
fact  all  the  characteristics  and  beauties  of  a  modern  Alpine 
summer  resort,  with  the  addition  of  a  magnificent  marble 
palace,  furnished  with  the  treasures  of  the  world. 

Hadrian,  the  successor  of  Trajan,  inherited  his  passion 
and  love  for  travel,  for  mountains,  and  for  fine  natural 
scenery ;  only  he  went  much  higher.  If  the  Torre  del  Fil- 
osofo,  the  striking  ruin  near  the  top  of  Mount  Etna,  did 
really  belong  to  a  lodge  built  by  Hadrian,  we  have  in  it 
an  instance  of  a  Roman  summer  palace  3,631  feet  higher 
than  the  Rigi  Kulm,  and  3,277  feet  higher  than  Mount 
Washington. 

A  very  interesting  chapter  might  be  written  on  the  de- 
struction of  the  villas  of  the  Campagna,  during  the  appal- 
ling vicissitudes  which  shook  and  nearly  annihilated  the 
Peninsula,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  of  our  era.  I 
do  not  belong  to  the  school  which  condemns  the  barbaric 


276  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

hosts,  and  holds  them  responsible  for  the  material  destruc- 
tion of  Rome  and  its  immediate  surroundings.  The  barba- 
rians took  gold,  silver,  bronze,  jewelry,  whatever  could  be 
easily  moved  and  carried  away;  they  may  have  set  fire 
to  a  few  monuments  in  the  excitement  of  battle,  or  out 
of  spite;  in  their  ignorance  and  in  their  hatred  of  the 
Latin  name,  they  may  have  knocked  down  from  their  ped- 
estals statues  of  emperors  and  gods  ;  but  it  would  be  folly 
to  throw  upon  them  the  blame  and  the  shame  of  the 
destruction  of  substantial  marble,  stone,  and  brick  build- 
ings. They  did  not  have  time  to  indulge  in  that  sort  of 
sport ;  they  did  not  possess  the  proper  tools  to  accomplish 
such  Titanic  deeds ;  they  did  not  care  to  commit  acts  of 
vandalism  from  which  they  could  reap  no  benefit.  Rome 
has  been  destroyed  by  its  own  inhabitants  ;  and,  if  I  dared 
to  deviate  from  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  I  could  easily 
prove  how  perfectly  true  is  the  statement,  announced  in 
the  Preface,  that  during  the  glorious  cinquecento  more 
harm  was  done,  more  destruction  was  accomplished,  more 
monuments  were  overthrown,  than  in  the  course  of  the  pre- 
ceding ten  centuries. 

As  regards  the  Campagna,  however,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  barbarians  were  the  indirect  cause  of  its  abandon- 
ment and  devastation  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  after 
Christ.  In  that  age  not  only  had  the  patrician  families  lost 
nearly  all  the  fortune  necessary  to  keep  up  those  costly 
establishments,  because  the  latifundia,  which  they  pos- 
sessed in  the  various  provinces  of  the  empire,  had  already 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  invader ;  but  the  insecurity  of 
the  Campagna,  even  during  the  interval  of  peace  between 
two  successive  incursions,  had  become  so  great,  that  no  one 
any  longer  dared  to  leave,  even  for  a  short  time,  the  shelter 
of  the  town  walls.  Moreover,  by  the  cessation  of  the  supply 


THE   CAMPAGNA. 


277 


of  water,  the  most  important  source  of  life,  health,  and 
wealth  had  been  withdrawn  from  the  Campagna.  And 
finally,  we  have  the  positive  evidence  of  an  eye-witness,  the 
Byzantine  historian  Procopius,  that  during  the  numberless 
sieges  of  Rome  by  the  Goths  and  Vandals,  the  districts 
surrounding  their  camps  were  given  up  occasionally  to 
merciless  devastation.  In  the  account  of  the  Gothic  war, 
Procopius  describes  one  of  these  camps  established  by  the 
barbarians  among  the  arcades  of  the  great  aqueducts,  at 
the  sixth  milestone  of  the  Via  Latina,  between  the  pictu- 
resque tower,  known  by  the  name  of  Torre  Fiscale,  and 


The  Torre  Fiscale,  showing  the  site  fortified  by  the  Goths. 


278  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

the  modern  race-course  at  the  Capannelle.  Here  the  two 
main  aqueducts  of  the  Claudia  and  of  the  Marcia  cross 
each  other  twice,  leaving,  between  the  first  and  the  second 
crossing,  an  oval  space,  two  thousand  feet  long  by  six  hun- 
dred wide,  encircled  by  lofty  arches,  and  presenting  the 
aspect  of  an  amphitheatre.  This  enclosure  the  Goths  for- 
tified by  walling  up  the  arches  with  huge  stones ;  and  they 
established  themselves  within,  with  all  possible  comfort. 
They  numbered  seven  thousand  men,  not  including  the 
outposts.  Here  they  remained  many  months,  waiting  for 
the  proper  occasion  to  storm  the  city.  In  the  mean  time 
they  spent  their  leisure  hours  in  setting  fire  to  neighboring 
villas,  in  uprooting  trees,  in  violating  tombs,  and  in  de- 
stroying farms,  until  an  outbreak  of  pestilence  obliged 
them  to  leave  their  fortified  camp  and  disperse.  Commen- 
datore  de  Rossi  has  collected  important  evidence  on  the 
accuracy  and  truthfulness  of  the  account  by  Procopius  of 
this  episode  of  the  Gothic  war.  In  1853  he  saw  many 
tombs  in  the  course  of  excavation  in  the  modern  road  to 
Albano,  and  within  half  a  mile  of  the  Torre  Fiscale.  These 
tombs  were  built  with  the  spoils  of  more  ancient  ones,  and 
contained  skeletons  covered  with  rich  clothes  woven  with 
golden  thread.  Other  skeletons  were  bound  around  the 
loins  and  the  breast  with  bands  saturated  with  blood.  "  I 
at  once  recalled,"  Commendatore  de  Rossi  says,  "the  ac- 
count of  Procopius,  and  thought  myself  in  the  presence  of 
Roman  or  Gothic  warriors,  whose  wounds  had  been  hur- 
riedly dressed,  and  who  had  been  slain  during  that  murder- 
ous campaign."  This  supposition  was  confirmed  by  dis- 
coveries made  near  and  on  the  same  spot  in  1876,  and 
described  by  the  same  distinguished  archaeologist. 

In   spite   of   the  devastation  of   the  Campagna,  which 
closely  followed  the  fall  of  the  empire ;  in  spite  of  its  pres- 


THE   CAMPAGNA. 


279 


ent  state  of  abandonment  and  solitude ;  in  spite  of  the 
works  of  improvement  begun  by  our  national  government, 
which  threaten  to  change  altogether  the  aspect  of  this  ven- 
erable district,  there  are  still,  there  always  will  be,  nooks 
and  corners  which  will  enable  one  to  form  a  vivid  idea 
of  its  ancient  beauty.  Take,  for  instance,  the  Casino  del 


The  Casino  del  Ligorio.  Vatican  Gardens. 

Ligorio  and  its  surroundings,  in  the  Vatican  gardens.  It 
is  a  perfect  image  of  an  ancient  country-house.  Take, 
also,  the  Villa  Barberini,  at  Castel  Gandolfo,  which  I  con- 
sider not  only  the  very  finest  I  have  ever  seen,  but  also  the 
one  which  comes  nearer  than  any  other  to  the  type  of  an 
ancient  suburbanum.  It  is  true  that  its  general  plan  and 
outline  follow  precisely  the  plan  and  the  outline  of  the 
glorious  villa  of  Domitian,  which  that  emperor  built  on  the 


280  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

west  slope  of  the  Lake  of  Albano,  uniting  in  one  body 
his  own  with  the  villa  of  Clodius  and  Pompey  the  Great. 
But  the  ancient  ruins,  the  foundation  walls  of  the  huge 
terraces,  the  nymphsea,  and  other  remains  are  so  com- 
pletely concealed  and  screened  by  a  thick  growth  of  ivy, 
ferns,  and  other  evergreens,  that  one  feels,  more  than 
sees,  the  antiquity  of  the  place.  By  a  singular  coinci- 
dence, no  tree,  no  shrub,  no  flower,  no  bird,  that  is  not 
purely  classic,  seems  to  be  allowed  to  live  in  this  magnifi- 
cent domain.  In  looking  at  the  groups  of  aged  ilexes, 
pines,  firs,  cypresses,  corbezzoli,  laurels,  myrtles,  and  pome- 
granates, which  shade  the  lawns  in  graceful  and  pictu- 
resque clusters,  one  is  led  to  remember  the  frescoes  repre- 
senting the  villa  of  Livia.  No  flower  is  allowed  to  diversify 
the  emerald  green  of  the  lawns,  except  the  classic  rose  and 
violet.  And  to  make  the  illusion  more  perfect,  flocks  of 
peacocks  have  selected  the  groves  of  this  villa  -for  their 
abode,  and  increase  the  variety  of  the  scene  with  the  bril- 
liancy of  their  plumage.  As  to  the  view  which  one  com- 
mands from  the  Villa  Barberini,  there  is  perhaps  more  clas- 
sic history  contained  in  the  district  stretching  far  away, 
from  the  foot  of  the  Alban  hills  to  the  Mediterranean,  from 
the  promontory  of  Circe  to  Mount  Soracte,  from  Ostia  to 
the  Tiber,  than  in  all  other  districts  of  Italy  together.  An- 
other particular  worth  mentioning  is  this :  it  was  a  well- 
known  custom  of  Roman  patricians  to  build  the  last  rest- 
ing-place of  the  family  within  the  precinct  of  the  paternal 
villa,  —  a  pious  and  touching  practice,  almost  completely 
abandoned  and  forgotten  by  modern  generations  !  It  has 
not  been  forgotten,  however,  in  this  Villa  Barberini  at  Cas- 
tel  Gandolf o,  and  the  family  tomb  has  been  raised  in  the 
lovely  pine  forest  which  borders  the  domain  on  the  side  of 
the  Lake  of  Albano. 


THE   CAMPAGNA.  281 

The  number  of  ancient  family  crypts  and  mausoleums 
scattered  all  over  the  Campagna  is  really  astonishing ;  and 
whereas  it  helps  us  to  form  an  idea  of  the  number  of  an- 
cient villas,  within  the  precincts  of  which  those  tombs 
were  raised,  it  enables  us,  in  many  cases,  to  identify  the 
name  of  the  family  to  which  the  property  belongs ;  because 
we  seldom  find  a  tomb,  without  finding,  at  the  same  time, 
epitaphs  and  inscriptions  relating  its  history.  Among  the 
many  thousand  tombs  which  have  been  discovered  in  mod- 
ern times  in  the  Campagna,  and  among  the  many  hundred 
which  have  been  discovered  by  myself,  or  in  my  presence, 
one  has  always  attracted  and  captivated  my  sympathy  more 
than  any  other,  —  the  tomb  of  a  beautiful,  fascinating  girl 
of  the  highest  aristocracy,  whose  premature  death  has  been 
so  sadly  and  touchingly  described  by  Pliny  the  younger,  in 
the  sixteenth  letter  of  the  sixth  book.  I  refer  to  the  sepul- 
chre of  Minicia  Marcella,  daughter  of  Minicius  Fundanus, 
brought  to  light  by  military  engineers,  on  the  very  top  of 
the  Monte  Mario,  the  highest  summit  in  the  vicinity  of 
Rome,  when  they  were  laying  the  foundations  and  digging 
the  moat  of  the  new  fortress,  which  commands  the  approach 
to  Rome  from  the  upper  valley  of  the  Tiber.  The  family 
crypt  of  the  Minicii  presented  the  appearance  of  a  room, 
twenty-six  feet  square,  of  modest  architecture,  with  brick 
pavement,  door,  steps,  and  posts  of  common  stone,  and 
walls  simply  whitewashed.  When  the  stillness  and  solitude 
of  the  place  was  first  broken,  and  we  stepped  over  the 
threshold  which  had  never  been  violated  since  the  burial  of 
the  girl,  seventeen  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  I  saw  six  mar- 
ble sarcophagi,  without  inscriptions,  set  up  in  couples  against 
three  sides  of  the  cell.  Near  the  wall  facing  the  entrance 
there  stood  a  marble  cippus,  or  cinerary  urn,  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  Statoria  Marcella,  the  mother  of  our  heroine. 


282  THE   CAMPAGNA. 

The  cippus,  or  cinerary  urn,  contained  the  ashes  of  this 
lady.  A  fine  piece  of  marble,  exquisitely  carved  and  orna- 
mented, stood  in  the  centre  of  the  room.  The  inscription 
engraved  upon  it  reads  as  follows :  — 

D .  M .  MINICLE .  MARCELL^E .  FVNDANI .  F .  VIX .  A .  XII .  M .  XI .  D .  VII. 

"  To  the  soul  of  Minicia  Marcella,  daughter  of  Fundanus ; 
died  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  eleven  months,  and  seven 
days."  C.  Minicius  Fundanus,  father  of  the  girl,  was  con- 
sul from  the  first  of  May  to  the  first  of  September,  in  the 
year  107  ;  and  governor  of  Asia  Minor  in  124.  Being  a 
cultivated  gentleman,  he  enjoyed  the  intimacy  of  many  dis- 
tinguished contemporaries,  —  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  of 
Pliny  the  younger,  and  especially  of  Plutarch,  who  speaks  of 
him  in  his  book  on  "  Equanimity,"  and  introduces  him,  as 
a  leading  personage,  in  his  dialogue  "  De  Cohibenda  Ira," 
—  "  How  to  check  Anger."  There  is  no  doubt  that  Fun- 
danus and  Statoria  were  the  parents  of  the  young  girl  whose 
tomb  we  discovered  on  the  Monte  Mario  :  as  a  proof,  we 
have  the  beautiful  letter  of  Pliny,  above  alluded  to,  ad- 
dressed to  their  common  friend  Marcellinus,  of  which  letter 
I  will  give  a  few  extracts :  "  I  write  to  you  with  my  soul 
deeply  saddened  and  distressed,  on  account  of  the  death 
of  the  younger  daughter  of  our  Fundanus,  a  bright,  lova- 
ble, attractive  girl,  worthy  not  only  of  a  longer  life,  but  I 
might  almost  say  of  immortality.  Although  she  had  not 
yet  completed  her  thirteenth  year,  she  united  the  wisdom 
and  the  gravity  of  a  matron  to  the  simplicity  and  gen- 
tleness of  a  girl,  the  modesty  and  sweetness  of  a  virgin. 
With  what  tranquillity,  patience,  and  strength  of  mind 
she  supported  her  fatal  disease,  followed  the  advice  of  the 
attending  physicians,  consoled  her  father  and  elder  sister, 
and  maintained  the  declining  strength  of  her  body  with  the 


THE   CAMPAGNA.  283 

vigor  of  her  mind  !  Already  she  was  betrothed  to  a  worthy 
young  gentleman  ;  the  day  of  the  marriage  had  been  set- 
tled, the  invitations  issued.  I  cannot  express  to  you  in 
words  the  sense  of  grief  I  experienced,  when  I  heard  Fun- 
danus  order  that  all  the  money  which  had  been  put  aside 
for  the  trousseau,  and  settled  on  for  the  marriage,  should 
be  devoted  to  the  ceremony  of  the  cremation  of  the  poor 
body."  Pliny  then  urges  his  friend  Marcellinus  to  hasten 
his  return,  that  he  may  comfort  Fundanus  in  his  terrible 
affliction  and  bereavement,  and  concludes  his  letter  with 
the  following  exquisite  sentence  :  "  As  it  happens  that  the 
wounded  body  dreads,  at  first,  the  hand  of  the  surgeon, 
later  endures  it,  and  finally  seeks  it  with  anxiety,  so  the 
soul,  depressed  or  bent  down  with  sorrow  or  grief,  rebels, 
at  first,  against  words  of  comfort,  later  hears  them  with 
resignation,  and  lastly  seeks  them  as  the  sweetest  balsam 
for  a  wounded  heart." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  WOBKS  OF  ART,  AND  THEIR 
DISCOVERY  IN  RECENT  YEARS. 

IN  a  manuscript  volume  of  the  Vatican  library,  belong- 
ing to  the  Syriac  collection  and  numbered  145,  a  short 
description  of  Rome  has  been  found,  written,  A.  D.  546,  by 
Zacharias,  a  Byzantine  historian  and  Bishop  of  Mytilene  in 
the  island  of  Lesbos.  From  his  account  we  gather  that, 
towards  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  of  our  era,  there 
were  in  Rome  eighty  statues  of  gilt  bronze  representing 
gods,  thirty-seven  hundred  and  eighty-five  bronze  statues 
of  miscellaneous  subjects,  and  twenty-five  bronze  statues 
which,  according  to  tradition,  had  been  removed  from  Jeru- 
salem by  Vespasian  :  in  all  thirty-eight  hundred  and  ninety 
works  of  art  in  bronze,  exhibited  in  public  places.  Of 
this  immense  and  invaluable  collection  a  small  portion  only 
has  come  down  to  us ;  in  fact,  the  list  of  ancient  bronzes 
in  modern  Rome  is  so  short  that,  as  regards  number,  the 
contents  of  our  museums  cannot  compare  favorably  with 
those  of  the  National  Museum  in  Naples.  Our  list  com- 
prises, first  of  all,  the  Capitoline  group,  namely,  the  Bronze 
Wolf,  the  equestrian  statue  of  M.  Aurelius,  the  colossal 
Head  of  Domitian,  the  Camillus  or  Sacrificing  Youth,  the 
Boy  extracting  a  Thorn,  and  the  Hercules  from  the  Forum 
Boarium.  Many  errors  connected  with  the  origin  and  the 
discovery  of  these  famous  bronzes  have  been  circulated, 
and  are  still  believed  by  many.  The  equestrian  statue  is 
said  to  have  been  found  between  the  Lateran  and  the  Ba- 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.    285 

silica  of  S.  Croce  in  Gerusalemme,  in  a  vineyard  adjoining 
the  Scala  Santa ;  the  She-Wolf,  to  have  been  found  under 
the  northwest  spur  of  the  Palatine  hill,  near  the  so-called 
Arco  degli  Argentieri,  at  S.  "Giorgio  in  Velabro ;  the  colos- 
sal Head  of  Domitian  to  have  been  found,  in  1487,  near 
the  Basilica  of  Constantine  on  the  Sacra  Via,  and  so  on. 
The  truth  is  that  these  celebrated  works  were  never  lost 
and  rediscovered ;  but,  as  I  have  already  stated  in  Chapter 
I.,  from  the  fall  of  the  empire  downwards,  they  have  been 
kept  together  and  preserved  in  and  around  the  Pope's  pal- 
ace at  the  Lateran,  until  Sixtus  IV.  and  Paul  III.  caused 
them  to  be  removed  to  the  Capitol. 

Of  the  equestrian  statue  of  M.  Aurelius  we  have  records 
from  the  tenth  century.  In  the  year  966,  Peter,  prefect  of 
Rome,  was  executed  for  rebellion  against  Pope  John  XIII., 
being  hung  by  the  hair  from  the  horse ;  and  at  its  feet  was 
flung  the  corpse  of  the  Anti-pope  Boniface,  son  of  Ferru- 
cio,  in  the  year  974.  We  hear  again  of  the  group  in  1347, 
during  the  festivities  which  followed  the  election  of  Rienzi 
to  the  tribuneship,  when,  for  nearly  a  whole  day,  wine  was 
made  to  flow  from  one  nostril  of  the  horse,  water  from  the 
other.  This  constant  connection  of  the  equestrian  group 
with  the  Lateran,  from  time  immemorial,  makes  us  believe 
that  it  was  never  removed  there  from  the  Forum,  as  com- 
monly asserted,  but  that  it  must  have  belonged  to  the  im- 
perial residence  of  the  Lateran  from  the  time  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  who  was  born  and  educated  in  the  house  of  the 
Annii,  close  by. 

As  regards  the  She-Wolf,  the  positive  evidence  of  its 
being  kept  at  the  Lateran  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the 
ninth  century.  Benedict,  a  monk  from  Mount  Soracte, 
who  wrote  a  Chronicon  in  the  tenth  century,  speaks  of  the 
institution  of  a  supreme  court  of  justice  "  in  the  Lateran 


286    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

palace,  in  the  place  called  the  Wolf,  viz.,  the  mother  of  the 
Romans."  Trials  and  executions  "  at  the  Wolf  "  are  re- 
corded from  time  to  time  until  1450.  Paolo  di  Liello 
speaks  of  two  highwaymen,  whose  hands,  cut  by  the  execu- 
tioner, were  hung  at  the  Wolf.  It  was  removed  to  the 
Conservatori  palace  on  the  Capitol  in  1473,  together  with 
the  colossal  Head  and  the  Camillus. 

The  ancient  bronzes  in  the  Vatican  museum  are  less 
important  in  number  and  in  interest  than  those  of  the  Cap- 
itol ;  in  fact,  only  two  are  worth  mentioning,  —  the  Pine- 
cone,  in  the  Giardino  della  Pigna,  and  the  Hercules,  dis- 
covered in  the  autumn  of  1864  under  the  foundations  of 
the  palazzo  Pio  di  Carpi,  on  the  site  of  the  theatre  of 
Pompey  the  Great. 

The  Pine-cone,  eleven  feet  high,  is  generally  described 
as  the  pinnacle  of  Hadrian's  mausoleum  (now  Castel  S. 
Angelo),  in  the  ruins  of  which  it  is  said  to  have  been 
found.  The  truth  is  that  the  Pine-cone  has  always  been 
the  central  ornament  of  a  large  fountain,  or  basin,  or 
pond,  the  water  flowing  in  innumerable  jets  per  foramina 
nucum  ;  that  is  to  say,  from  each  of  the  spikes.  Pope  Sym- 
machus,  who  did  so  much  toward  the  embellishment  of 
sacred  edifices  in  Rome  (between  498  and  514),  removed 
the  Pine-cone  from  its  ancient  place,  most  probably  from 
Agrippa's  artificial  lake  in  the  Campus  Martius,  and  used  it 
for  adorning  the  magnificent  fountain  which  he  had  built  in 
the  centre  of  the  so-called  "  Paradise  "  of  S.  Peter's,  viz.,  in 
the  centre  of  the  square  portico  in  front  of  the  basilica. 
Considering  the  decadence,  the  poverty,  and  the  semi-bar- 
baric taste  of  the  age  in  which  Symmachus  lived,  his  foun- 
tain must  be  considered  as  a  real  masterpiece.  Cencius 
Camerarius,  who  became  in  process  of  time  Pope  Honorius 
III.,  wrote  in  1190  the  following  description  of  the  foun- 


THE   PINE-CONE   AND   THE    PEACOCKS 
In  the  Vatican  Gardens. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  AR%.     287 

tain  :  "  In  the  l  Paradise  '  of  S.  Peter  there  is  a  basin  built 
by  Pope  Symmachus,  surrounded  by  columns  of  porphyry, 
which  support  a  dome  of  gilt  metal ;  of  gilt  metal  also 
are  the  dolphins  and  the  flowers,  from  the  mouth  and  the 
petals  of  which  the  water  flows.  In  the  centre  of  the 
piece  stands  the  Pine-cone."  The  two  lovely  bronze  pea- 
cocks now  preserved  in  the  Giardino  della  Pigna  are  sup- 
posed to  have  come  from  the  same  fountain.  M.  Lacour- 
Gayet  has  recently  discovered  a  remarkable  document  con- 
nected with  the  Cone,  —  the  very  signature  of  the  artist 
who  modelled  and  cast  it,  engraved  twice  around  the  lower 
edge  of  the  piece  : 

P  •  CINCIVS  •  P  •  L  •  CALVIVS  •  FECIT 

"  This  is  the  work  of  Publius  Cincius  Calvius,  freedman  of 
Publius  Cincius." 

The  other  bronze  of  the  Vatican,  the  colossal  Hercules, 
discovered  twenty-three  years  ago  near  the  piazza  di  Campo 
dei  Fiori,  under  the  foundations  of  Pompey's  theatre,  is 
remarkable  more  from  having  been  an  oracular  statue  than 
from  its  beauty.  Very  few  persons  are  acquainted  with 
the  most  striking  feature  of  this  Hercules.  I  mean,  very 
few  persons  know  of  the  existence  of  a  hole  in  the  back 
of  the  head,  thirty-eight  centimetres  in  diameter,  through 
which  a  full-grown  youth  could  easily  make  his  way  into  the 
colossus.  The  experiment  was  actually  made  by  a  young 
mason,  named  Pietro  Roega,  in  November,  1864,  in  the 
presence  of  Commendatore  Tenerani  and  other  eminent  per- 
sonages ;  and  the  sound  of  his  voice,  in  answering  the  ques- 
tions addressed  to  him,  was  really  impressive  and  almost 
supernatural.  Hercules,  like  ^Esculapius,  Apollo,  and  the 
Fortune,  was  undoubtedly  an  oracular  god,  as  shown  by 
the  existence  of  many  temples  and  sanctuaries  in  which  re- 


288    £OSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF    WORKS   OF  ART. 

sponsa  or  oracles  were  given  in  his  name.     Such  were  the 
temple  of  Bura,  in  Achaia,  described  by  Pausanias;  the 

temple  of  Gades  in  Bse- 
tica,  described  by  Silius 
Italicus ;  the  temple  in 
the  Cynosargos,  at 
Athens,  described  by 
Suidas;  and  such  was 
most  probably  our  Ro- 
man temple  of  Hercu- 
les, near  the  Circus 
Flaminius,  to  which  the 
colossal  statue  found  in 
1864  is  supposed  to  be- 
long. 

How  happens  it  that 
so  very  few,  among  the 
many  thousand  bronze 
statues  of  ancient  Rome, 
have  escaped  destruc- 
tion? The  answer  has 
already  been  given  by 
Fea,  in  his  "Istoria 
della  rovina  di  Roma  ;  " 
by  Gibbon,  in  his  "  De- 
cline and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  ;  "  by 
Dyer,  in  the  last  chap- 
ters of  his  "  History  of 
the  City  of  Rome." 
During  the  long  agony  of  the  capital  of  the  world,  an  agony 
which  lasted  nearly  seven  centuries,  from  Constantino's  age 
to  the  final  burning  of  the  city  by  Robert  Guiscard  and 


The  Mastai  Hercules.     In  the  Vatican. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  AR%.    289 

his  Normans,  in  May,  1084,  no  one,  except  a  few  lime- 
burners,  paid  any  attention  to  marbles ;  works  of  bronze  and 
other  metals  were  sought  for,  stolen,  stripped,  and  melted 
with  an  almost  incredible  amount  of  labor  and  patience, 
on  account  of  their  marketable  value  and  facility  of  trans- 
portation. In  justice  to  the  barbarians,  upon  whom  is 
often  cast  the  blame  of  spoliations  committed  by  the  Ro- 
mans themselves,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  emperors 
set  the  bad  example  of  stealing  bronze  and  other  valuables 
from  public  places,  especially  from  pagan  temples  and 
shrines,  after  the  recognition  of  Christianity  as  the  religion 
of  the  state.  The  first  inroad  upon  this  class  of  works  of 
art  was  undoubtedly  made  by  Constantine,  when  he  trans- 
ferred the  seat  of  the  empire  to  Byzantium  :  at  any  rate, 
under  him  began  the  wanton  practice  of  changing  the  heads 
of  bronze  and  marble  statues,  in  order  that  they  might  be 
dedicated  to  new  personages  with  no  cost  and  no  trouble. 

The  next  important  step  towards  the  destruction  of  the 
artistic  treasures  of  Rome  was  made  A.  D.  383,  by  Grati- 
anus,  when  he  ordered,  by  imperial  decree,  the  abolition 
and  confiscation  of  the  privileges  and  the  patrimony  of  all 
pagan  places  of  worship,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not 
becoming  a  Christian  government  and  a  Christian  state 
officially  to  supply  the  infidels  with  the  means  of  persever- 
ing in  their  errors.  In  391,  the  edict  of  Gratianus  was 
confirmed  by  his  brother  Valentinian  II.,  and  this  measure 
so  roused  the  indignation  of  the  pagan  majority  in  the 
Senate-House,  ready  to  break  into  open  rebellion,  that  the 
emperor  decided  to  strike  the  final  blow ;  and  before  that 
memorable  year  was  over,  another  decree  prohibited  for- 
ever superstitious  sacrifices  in  Rome  and  in  Italy,  even  if 
offered  under  a  private  name,  at  private  cost,  and  within 
the  threshold  of  a  private  house. 


290     LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

The  masterpieces  of  Greek  and  Italo-Greek  art,  to  which 
divine  honors  had  been  offered  for  centuries,  were  removed 
from  their  temples,  and  exhibited  in  public  places,  in  the 
baths,  in  the  forums,  in  the  theatres,  as  simple  objects 
of  curiosity.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  on  this  oc- 
casion, when  suddenly  exposed  to  the  hatred  and  violence 
of  a  Christian  populace,  who  had  so  long  and  so  bitterly 
suffered  from  the  hatred  and  violence  of  the  pagan  aris- 
tocracy, the  works  of  art  must  have  suffered  a  certain 
amount  of  damage.  The  Hercules  of  the  Vatican,  for  in- 
stance, still  bears  the  evidence  of  an  ignoble  attack,  which 
must  have  taken  place  when  the  gates  of  the  temple  were 
shut  behind  it. 

In  408,  Alaric  was  induced  to  withdraw  from  Rome,  on 
the  payment  of  an  exorbitant  ransom,  one  of  the  items 
of  which  was  five  thousand  pounds  weight  of  gold.  In 
order  to  meet  this  demand,  the  Eomans  were  compelled  to 
strip  the  bronze  statues  of  their  heavy  gilding.  Two  years 
later,  on  the  24th  day  of  August,  410,  Alaric  and  his 
hordes  stormed  the  town,  and  plundered  it  for  three  con- 
secutive days,  carrying  off  an  incredible  amount  of  articles 
of  value.  According  to  Procopius,  the  Jewish  spoils  from 
Jerusalem,  which  Titus  and  Vespasian  had  dedicated  in  the 
temple  of  Peace,  and  which  are  so  beautifully  represented 
in  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  triumphal  arch  of  Titus  on  the 
Sacred  Way,  were  among  the  booty.  Traditions,  however, 
differ  with  regard  to  the  fate  of  this  precious  and  venerable 
collection  of  metals  from  Zion.  The  writers  of  the  Tal- 
mud, for  instance,  believe  the  seven-branched  candlestick 
to  have  been  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  and  describe  the  bed 
of  the  river  as  paved  with  solid  bronze  from  Rome  to  Ostia. 
The  Jewish  colony  of  Rome,  acting  under  the  influence  of 
this  tradition,  is  said  by  De  Brosses  to  have  applied  to  the 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF  WORKS  0*'  ART.     291 

Pope  for  a  permit  to  excavate  the  whole  bed,  and  recover 
the  candlestick ;  a  request  which  of  course  met  with  a 
refusal.  Others  think  that  when  Alaric,  the  plunderer, 
died  in  Southern  Italy,  near  Cosenza,  his  followers  buried 
him  and  his  treasures  in  the  bed  of  the  river  Busentinus, 
first  diverting  the  course  of  the  waters,  and  then  letting 
them  flow  again  over  the  tomb.  I  wonder  whether  this 
story  is  based  upon  a  practice  actually  followed  by  the  bar- 
barians in  the  burial  of  their  great  chiefs  and  leaders,  or 
whether  it  is  simply  a  revised  edition  of  the  true  story  of 
Decebalus,  king  of  the  Dacians.  On  the  approach  of  the 
Roman  army,  led  to  victory  by  Trajan,  Decebalus  caused 
the  Sargetia,  now  Istrig,  to  be  turned  out  of  its  regular 
course,  and  buried  an  enormous  mass  of  gold,  silver,  and 
jewelry  in  a  kind  of  cave  which  had  been  built  for  that 
purpose  in  the  middle  of  the  dry  bed.  The  river  was  then 
restored  to  its  natural  channel,  and  all  the  men  who  had 
been  employed  in  this  extraordinary  work  were  slain  by 
Decebalus,  in  order  that  the  secret  might  be  safe  from  in- 
discreet disclosure.  The  secret,  however,  was  revealed  to 
Trajan  by  the  king's  intimate  confidant  and  adviser,  Be- 
ryx;  and  the  Romans  found  in  the  cave  money  and  val- 
uables enough  to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  that  costly  war. 
According  to  Fabretti  ("  De  Columna  Traiana,"  c.  8),  some 
Wallachian  fishermen,  plunging  and  diving  into  the  Istrig, 
towards  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  discovered  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  treasure,  which  had  somehow 
escaped  the  search  of  the  Roman  emperor. 

To  go  back  to  the  Jewish  treasure  in  Rome,  it  seems 
certain  that  the  whole  of  it  cannot  have  been  carried  off 
by  Alaric,  since  part  was  plundered  by  Genseric,  as  we  shall 
presently  see.  In  June,  455,  the  third  day  after  the  mur- 
der of  Petronius  Maximus,  who  had  succeeded  Valentinian 


292     LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

III.,  the  Vandals,  with  whom  mingled  Bedouins  and  Afri- 
cans, entered  Rome  by  the  Porta  Portese,  and  plundered  it 
at  leisure  during  a  whole  fortnight.  On  this  occasion  the 
palace  of  the  Caesars  was  completely  robbed,  not  only  of 
its  precious  statues,  but  even  of  its  commonest  brass  uten- 
sils. Genseric  appears  to  have  devoted  himself  particularly 
to  the  plunder  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus :  its 
statues  were  carried  off  to  adorn  the  African  residence  of 
the  Vandal  king,  and  half  the  roof  was  stripped  of  its  tiles 
of  gilt  bronze.  That  portion  of  the  Jewish  spoils  which 
had  escaped  the  previous  attempt  of  Alaric,  was  apparently 
landed  safely  at  Carthage,  where,  eighty  years  later,  it  was 
discovered  again  by  Belisarius,  and  removed  to  Constantino- 
ple. On  the  1st  of  January  of  the  following  year,  456,  the 
Senate  decreed  that  a  bronze  statue  should  be  raised  in 
Trajan's  Forum,  in  honor  of  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  the  son- 
in-law  of  the  Emperor  Avitus.  Although  the  decree  of  the 
Senate  must  be  understood  in  the  sense  that  a  new  head, 
representing  within  a  certain  approximation  the  likeness  of 
Apollinaris,  was  to  be  put  on  a  statue  already  existing,  still 
the  fact  proves  that,  in  spite  of  all  these  inroads  and  plun- 
ders, works  in  metal  were  still  left  in  Rome,  not  only  in 
private  palaces  and  villas,  but  also  in  public  places,  such 
as  the  forum  of  Trajan.  Nearly  half  a  century  later,  in 
500,  Theodoric  the  Great  appointed  a  magistrate  (or  count, 
as  he  was  called  at  the  time),  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  care 
of  the  statues ;  and  although  Cassiodorius  evidently  exag- 
gerates in  comparing  these  to  a  population  of  bronze  and 
marble  (populus  copiosissimus  statuarum,  greges  abun- 
dantissimi  equorum,  viz.,  of  equestrian  statues),  the  new 
office  was  not  a  sinecure.  The  gilding  which  covered 
Roman  statues  seems  to  have  been  a  motive  to  theft,  or 
at  least  to  mutilation.  As  to  the  metal  employed  in  public 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF  WORKS   OF  ART.    293 

buildings,  especially  in  their  roofs,  an  edict  of  Majorianus, 
dated  457,  which  forbids  the  application  of  the  materials 
from  ancient  structures  to  new  purposes,  under  a  fine  of 
fifty  pounds  of  gold,  betrays  the  fact  that  classical  edifices 
were  already  regarded  in  Rome  as  mere  quarries  of  stone 
and  mines  of  metal. 

On  July  11,  472,  Rome  was  captured,  for  the  third  time, 
by  Ricimer  and  his  German  hordes,  and  plundered  again,' 
except  in  the  district  of  the  Janiculum  and  the  Vatican. 

In  537,  during  the  siege  of  Rome  by  Vitiges,  the  mau- 
soleum of  Hadrian,  which  had  been  long  since  fortified, 
was  furiously  assaulted,  and  the  statues  which  adorned  its 
forty-eight  intercolumniations,  for  the  most  part  master- 
pieces of  Grecian  art,  were  hurled  down  upon  the  heads 
of  the  assailants. 

On  December  17,  546,  the  Goths,  under  the  leadership 
of  their  king,  Totila,  stormed  Rome  by  treachery,  and  did 
more  damage  to  its  monuments  and  works  of  art  than  had 
been  done  before  by  the  Vandals. 

In  the  following  year,  Belisarius  repaired  the  line  of 
Aurelian's  walls  between  the  Porta  Pinciana  and  the  Porta 
Maggiore  :  the  work  was  completed  in  less  than  a  month, 
undoubtedly  at  the  expense  of  the  neighboring  monu- 
ments.1 

It  does  not  enter  into  my  present  purpose  to  follow, 
chapter  by  chapter,  the  history  of  the  destruction  of  Rome. 
Two  incidents  only  remain  to  be  noted.  First,  the  erection 
of  a  monumental  column  in  honor  of  Phocas,  the  usurper 

1  Between  the  third  and  the  fourth  these  niches  were  actually  walled  up 

tower  on  the  right  of  the  Porta  S.  Lo-  in  the  thickness  of   the  masonry.     I 

renzo,  Belisarius  enclosed  in  his  hasty  discovered  them  in  January,  1883,  on 

fortifications  a  nymphzeum  of   a  pri-  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of  the  new 

vate  garden,  ornamented  with  mosaics  Porta  Tiburtina. 
and  niches.     The  statues  belonging  to 


294    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

of  the  throne  of  the  East,  and  the  murderer  of  Mauritius ; 
because,  from  the  inscription  engraved  on  the  pedestal,  we 
learn  that  the  column  itself  was  surmounted  and  crowned 
with  a  statue  in  gilt  bronze.  A  statue  in  gilt  bronze  could 
not  have  been  modelled  and  cast  in  Rome  in  608 :  it  was 
merely  a  statue  cast  centuries  before,  of  which,  I  am  in- 
clined to  believe,  not  even  the  head  had  been  changed. 
The  second  incident  worth  noticing  is  the  grant  from  the 
Emperor  Heraclius  to  Pope  Honorius  of  the  first  of  the 
gilt  bronze  tiles  forming  the  roof  of  Hadrian's  temple  of 
Venus  and  Rome.  The  grant  had  been  requested  in  be- 
half of  the  basilica  of  S.  Peter :  it  led  to  the  destruction 
of  Hadrian's  masterpiece. 

At  length,  in  663,  Rome  suffered,  for  the  last  time, 
the  misfortune  of  an  imperial  visit.  Constans  II.,  com- 
pelled by  the  guilty  conscience  of  a  fratricide  to  wander 
from  sanctuary  to  sanctuary,  undertook  the  pilgrimage  to 
Rome  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  and  was  met  by  Pope 
Vitalianus  and  the  few  inhabitants  near  the  sixth  mile- 
stone of  the  Appian  Way.  The  short  and  friendly  visit 
of  this  Christian  emperor  proved  absolutely  fatal :  he  laid 
his  hand  on  everything  which,  after  the  repeated  sieges 
of  the  Vandals,  Goths,  and  Lombards,  had  been  left  for 
plunder.  "  In  the  twelve  days  which  Constans  spent  at 
Rome,  he  carried  off  as  many  bronze  statues  as  he  could 
lay  hands  on  ;  and  though  the  Pantheon  seemed  to  possess 
a  double  claim  to  protection,  as  having  been  presented  by 
Phocas  to  the  pope,  and  as  having  been  converted  into  a 
Christian  church,  yet  Constans  was  mean  and  sacrilegious 
enough  to  carry  off  the  tiles  of  gilt  bronze  which  covered 
it.  ...  After  perpetrating  these  acts,  which  were  at  least 
as  bad  as  robberies,  and  attending  mass  at  the  tomb  of 
*S.  Peter,  Constans  carried  off  his  booty  to  Syracuse ;  .  .  . 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.     295 
his  plunder  ultimately  fell   into   the  hands  of   the    Sara- 


"  i 
cens. 


A  remarkably  interesting  discovery  has  recently  been 
made  in  connection  with  this  visit  of  Constans  to  Rome. 
It  is  certain  that  the  emperor,  between  his  acts  of  doubtful 
devotion  in  churches  and  basilicas,  found  time  enough  to 
visit  the  pagan  monuments  and  ruins.  These  visits  were 
recorded  by  one  of  his  attendants,  as  a  Cook's  tourist  would 
do  to-day,  by  scratching  the  name  of  the  emperor  on  the 
most  prominent  place  of  each  building  which  the  party 
chanced  to  dishonor  with  its  presence.  Here  is  the  fac- 
simile of  the  record  scratched  on  the  "  Janus  quadrifrons  " 
in  the  Forum  Boarium  :  — 


KtAiNCTAMTiNOcici 


Another  signature  has  been  discovered  and  read  on  the 
very  top  of  Trajan's  column.  I  have  no  doubt  that  a  care- 
ful examination  of  the  principal  monuments  of  Rome  —  of 
the  Colosseum,  for  instance,  of  the  Pantheon,  of  the  Anto- 
nine  column,  etc.  —  would  lead  to  the  discovery  of  other 
such  graffiti,  and  would  enable  us  to  f ollow  step  by  step 
the  wanderings  of  the  last  emperor  who  saw  Rome  before 
its  final  destruction  by  the  Normans. 

After  such  a  marvellous  succession  of  robberies  and  spo- 
liations, there  is  no  reason  to  wonder  at  the  scarcity  of 
antique  bronzes  in  Rome ;  in  fact,  our  wonder  is  excited 
more  at  the  fortune  which  has  preserved  the  few  we  do  pos- 
sess. The  explanation  of  the  mystery  is  this.  Every  bronze 
found  in  Rome  since  the  Renaissance  (I  speak  of  this  later 
period,  because  our  knowledge  of  earlier  discoveries  is  too 
imperfect  and  fragmentary  to  be  valued)  had  been  carefully 

i  Dyer,  p.  355. 


296    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS  OF  ART. 

concealed  or  buried,  evidently  under  the  apprehension  of  a 
great  and  imminent  danger.  The  secret  of  the  hiding- 
place  was  never  revealed,  either  because  of  the  murder  or 
death  of  those  who  knew  it,  or  else  on  account  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  building  under  which  the  treasure  had  been 
buried.  To  mention  only  those  discoveries  which  have 
taken  place  in  my  lifetime,  I  will  name  first  of  all  the  treas- 
ure-trove of  the  Vicolo  delle  Palme  in  Trastevere.  In 
1849,  a  few  weeks  before  the  storming  of  Rome  by  the 
French  army  of  General  Oudinot,  under  the  house  No.  17 
in  the  above-mentioned  passage,  a  most  remarkable  collec- 
tion of  works  of  art  was  discovered  by  mere  accident.  It 
included  the  Apoxyomenos  of  Lysippus,  now  in  the  Braccio 
Nuovo,  —  a  marble  copy  from  the  bronze  original,  which 
stood  in  front  of  the  baths  of  Agrippa  ;  the  bronze  Horse, 
now  in  the  Palazzo  de'  Conservatori,  described  by  Emil 
Braun  as,  "an  unique  work,  masterpiece,  and  a  genuine 
Grecian  antique ;  "  a  bronze  foot,  with  a  beautifully  orna- 
mented shoe,  which  may  possibly  have  belonged  to  the  rider 
of  the  Horse  ;  a  bronze  Bull,  and  many  other  fragments  of 
less  importance.  Here  we  have  the  evidence  of  a  collection 
of  works  in  metal,  stolen  from  different  places,1  and  con- 
cealed in  that  remote  corner  of  Trastevere,  in  readiness  for 
shipment  from  the  quay  of  the  Tiber,  close  by.  Whether 
the  deed  was  accomplished  by  a  barbarian  of  the  hordes  of 
Genseric,  who  entered  and  left  Rome  precisely  at  this  quar- 
ter, or  by  a  Jew  of  the  transtiberine  community,  the  fact  is 
that  the  treasure  was  never  removed  from  its  hiding-place 
until  its  accidental  discovery  in  1849. 

1  It  has  been  proved  by  Canina  that  modelled  and  cast  by  Lysippus,  had 

the  Horse  belongs  to  the  famous  group  been  removed  to  Rome  by  Metellus 

representing   the   horsemen   of  Alex-  Macedonians,  and  dedicated  in  his  por- 

ander  the  Great,  killed  at  the  battle  tico,  maximum  ornamentum  eius  loci,  as 

of  Granicus.     The  equestrian  statues,  Paterculus  says. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.     297 

The  colossal  Hercules  of  the  Vatican  (Ercole  Mastai), 
discovered  August  8,  1864,  under  the  foundations  of  Pom- 
pey's  theatre,  had  been  not  only  concealed,  but  actually 
buried,  with  the  utmost  care,  in  a  kind  of  coffin  built  of 
solid  masonry,  and  veneered  with  marble. 

In  1881,  when  the  foundations  of  the  English  chapel 
were  being  laid,  at  the  corner  of  the  Via  del  Babuino  and 
the  Via  del  Gesu- Maria,  a  collection  of  bronze  imperial 
busts  was  found,  piled  up  and  concealed  in  a  subterranean 
passage.  A  similar  discovery  was  made  two  years  before, 
at  the  corner  of  the  Via  Nazionale  and  the  Via  di  S.  Eufe- 
mia,  when  a  remarkable  set  of  bronzes  was  found  by  Mad- 
ame Ristori,  hidden  under  the  foundations  of  her  palace. 

The  discovery  of  the  two  magnificent  statues  of  athletes, 
which  form  the  special  subject  of  this  chapter,  took  place 
in  circumstances  absolutely  identical.  In  the  spring  of 
1884,  an  application  was  made  to  the  national  gpvernment 
and  to  the  municipality  of  Rome  for  the  institution  of  a 
"  National  Dramatic  Society,"  and  for  the  grant  of  a  plot 
of  ground,  upon  which  the  society's  theatre  could  be  built. 
Both  requests  having  been  granted  by  the  state  and  city 
authorities,  the  society  took  possession  of  a  beautiful  site, 
on  the  western  slope  of  the  Quirinal  hill,  between  the  Co- 
lonna  Gardens  and  the  Palazzo  Campanari,  on  condition 
that  whatever  should  be  found  in  clearing  it  should  become 
the  property  of  the  state.  The  work  of  excavation  had  not 
even  begun,  when  I  received  a  letter  from  an  old  digger  of 
antiquities,  warning  me  to  watch  carefully  the  building  of 
the  new  theatre,  on  account  of  some  rare  bronzes  which  he 
thought  were  buried  there  at  a  great  depth.  The  surmise 
was  not  based  on  any  real  knowledge  ;  the  spot  had  never 
been  explored  before ;  and  no  human  being  could  foretell 
the  chances  or  the  results  of  such  an  excavation.  Strange 


298    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

to  say,  the  prophecy  of  my  humble  correspondent,  Signer 
Giuseppe  Gagliardi,  proved  to  be  correct  beyond  expecta- 
tion :  the  two  bronze  statues  discovered  there  in  March  and 
April,  1885,  must  be  classed  among  the  finest  masterpieces 
ever  brought  to  light  from  the  soil  of  Rome. 

The  slope  of  the  Quirinal  hill,  upon  which  the  society  is 
building,  was  occupied  in  ancient  times  by  three  different 
edifices :  by  the  temple  which  the  Emperor  Aurelian  ded- 
icated to  the  sun,  A.  D.  273,  after  his  victories  in  the  East ; 
by  the  shrine  dedicated  to  Semo  Sane  us,  an  archaic,  little- 
known  Sabine  god ;  and,  lastly,  by  a  portico  built  in  the 
reign  of  Constantine,  and  known  in  works  on  the  topo- 
graphy of  Rome  as  the  Porticus  Constantini.  The  limits 
of  these  three  buildings  were  so  imperfectly  known  that  we 
could  not  tell  how  large  a  portion  of  each  would  be  uncov- 
ered, in  clearing  the  site  for  the  new  theatre.  The  result 
of  the  excavations  has  shown  that  the  lower  portion  of  the 
ground  was  occupied  by  a  private  house  of  modest  appear- 
ance, the  existence  of  which  was  altogether  unknown  ;  the 
upper  portion  was  occupied  by  the  towering  substructure  of 
the  temple  of  the  Sun. 

The  house  being  built  on  a  steep  slope,  its  apartments 
rose,  of  course,  gradually  one  above  another,  in  steps  or 
terraces,  from  the  level  of  Constantino's  portico  to  the  level 
of  the  platform  of  the  temple,  —  a  difference  of  nearly 
fifty  feet.  The  apartments  were  beautifully  decorated  with 
fresco-paintings,  mosaic  and  marble  floors,  and  marble  stair- 
cases ;  but  everything  was  in  absolute  disorder,  as  if  a  sud- 
den catastrophe  had  destroyed  the  house.  This  catastrophe 
(whatever  it  may  have  been,  sinking  of  the  foundations, 
fire,  earthquake)  must  have  taken  place  at  the  end  of  the 
second  or  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  since  no 
coin  later  than  Commodus  was  found  among  the  ruins. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.     299 

It  must,  besides,  have  been  sudden  and  unexpected,  because 
all  the  works  of  art  the  house  contained  shared  its  fate, 
and  were  buried  under  its  ruins.  Of  these  works,  which 
show  the  exquisite  taste  and  finish  characteristic  of  the 
golden  era  of  Graeco-Roman  art,  I  will  mention  one  only,  a 
lovely  tazza,  or  basin  of  a  fountain,  exquisitely  carved  out 
of  a  single  block  of  nero  antico.  The  tazza,  four  feet  six 
inches  in  diameter,  is  fluted  all  around,  the  rim  being  or- 
namented with  twelve  beautiful  lion-heads  hi  full  relief, 
through  the  mouths  of  which  the  water  fell  in  graceful  jets 
into  the  basin  below.  This  house  and  all  its  artistic  treas- 
ures belonged  to  a  rather  obscure  personage,  a  freedman 
named  Cnaeus  Sergius  Crater. 

The  way  we  discover  the  names  of  owners  of  the  build- 
ings we  are  excavating  in  Rome  is  very  simple  and  matter 
of  fact,  and  differs  from  the  practice  followed  at  Pompeii. 
At  Pompeii  the  property  cannot  be  identified  unless  a  sig- 
net ring,  or  a  bronze  stamp,  or  a  graffito,  betraying  the  se- 
cret, is  discovered.  In  Rome,  this  is  done  by  means  of  the 
lead-pipes  which  carry  and  distribute  the  water  through  the 
fountains  and  bathing  apartments  of  the  house.  Water,  in 
the  capital  of  the  empire,  was  the  property  of  the  crown  : 
it  was  conceded  to  private  families  and  individuals  on  the 
condition  that  the  name  of  the  "  concessionaire  "  should  be 
engraved  on  the  pipes  through  which  the  water  was  brought 
from  the  nearest  crown-reservoir,  —  a  practice  absolutely 
necessary  for  distinguishing  any  particular  pipe  out  of  the 
many,  many  thousand  running  in  every  direction  and  under 
every  street.  The  legend  of  that  discovered  in  the  house 
above  described  reads  thus  :  — 

CNSERGCRATER  •  •  • 

Of  the  temple  of  the  Sun,  the  huge  foundations  of  which 


300    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

tower  high  above  the  house  of  Sergius,  I  must  content  my- 
self with  a  concise  account.  The  immense  building  was 
raised  by  Aurelian  —  on  the  edge  of  the  perpendicular  cliff 
of  the  Quirinal,  f acing  the  Campus  Martius  —  for  two  pur- 
poses :  first,  to  commemorate  his  conquest  of  the  kingdom 
of  Palmyra  and  the  capture  of  Queen  Zenobia;  secondly, 
to  provide  the  populace  of  Kome  with  an  easy  and  unob- 
structed ascent  from  the  plain  of  the  Campus  Martius  to 
the  top  of  the  hill.  This  second  purpose  was  accomplished 
by  means  of  two  gigantic  staircases,  the  foundations  of 
which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  Colonna  gardens,  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation.  These  staircases  are  perhaps  better 
known  as  having  supplied  the  material  for  the  steps  lead- 
ing from  the  piazza  to  the  church  of  the  Aracceli  on  the 
Capitol.1 

The  temple  itself  was  built  by  Aurelian  and  his  architects 
when  under  the  influence  of  impressions  received  in  their 
journey  through  the  East ;  more  especially  affected  by  the 
two  great  sanctuaries  of  the  Sun,  which  they  had  seen  at 
Ba'albek  and  at  Palmyra.  Our  Roman  temple  was  raised 
in  the  centre  of  an  artificial  platform,  supported  by  massive 
foundations,  ninety-two  feet  high.  The  desire  of  the  con- 
structors to  surpass,  if  possible,  the  magnificence  of  the  East 
is  shown  by  the  colossal  size  of  every  architectural  piece  of 
their  work.  Each  of  the  forty-four  columns  of  the  per- 
istyle measured  seven  feet  eight  inches  in  diameter,  sixty- 
five  feet  in  height ;  the  area  of  the  temenos  was  464  feet 

1  The  steps  of  the  Aracoeli,  one  huu-  new  staircase  was  begun  on  the  25th 

dred  and  twenty-four  in  number  and  of  October  of  that  year,  under  the  di- 

all  of  white  marble,  are  wrongly  de-  rection  of  Lorenzo  Simone  Andreozzi, 

scribed  in  guide-books  as  belonging  to  master  mason.     The  cost  of  the  work, 

the  temple  of  Quirinus.      They  were  amounting  to  five  thousand  florins,  waff 

removed  from  the  temple  of  the  Sun  raised  by  voluntary  contributions  as  a 

in  the  year  1348,   by  decree  of  the  votive  offering  to  the  Madonna. 
Senate  and   People  of   Rome.     The 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.    301 

by  320.  To  give  an  intelligible  idea  of  the  size  of  the 
blocks  employed  in  this  building,  I  will  mention  the  fact 
that  the  marble  fountain  formerly  in  the  Piazza,  del  Pop- 
olo,  and  now  in  the  public  gardens  on  the  Janiculum,  near 
the  church  of  S.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  is  cut  out  of  the 
base  of  one  of  the  columns  from  Aurelian's  temple.  As 
an  instance  of  that  practical  tendency  of  the  Romans 
which  enabled  them  to  seize  every  advantage  offered  by 
edifices  of  this  kind,  and  to  use  even  such  buildings  as 
were  ostensibly  erected  for  purposes  of  display,  for  any  ma- 
terial purpose,  I  may  cite  the  account  of  Vopiscus,  Aure- 
lian's biographer,  in  which  he  relates  that  the  extensive 
vaults  under  the  portico  of  the  temple  were  used  as  a  store 
and  tasting-rooms  for  the  wines  which  the  crown  offered 
for  sale. 

The  temple  of  the  Sun  seems  to  have  been  destroyed  at  a 
very  early  date,  save  the  southwest  corner,  which  bravely 
withstood  the  destructive  action  of  man  and  nature  as  late 
as  the  pontificate  of  Sixtus  V.  (1585-1590).  This  colossal 
ruin,  known  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  the  Torre  di  Mesa,  or 
as  the  Frontispizio  di  Nerone,  was  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant landmarks  in  this  district  of  Rome.  On  the  following 
page  is  a  view  of  it,  from  a  drawing  made  by  Stefano  du 
Perac  in  1575,  twenty  years  before  its  final  destruction  by 
Sixtus  V. 

Only  three  blocks  have  escaped  destruction,  and  may  be 
seen  under  the  ilexes  which  shade  the  upper  terrace  of 
the  Colonna  gardens.  One  belongs  to  the  lovely  frieze  of 
the  temple ;  one  to  the  capital  of  a  pilaster ;  the  third,  be- 
•longing  to  the  corner  of  the  entablature,  measures  1490 
cubic  feet,  and  weighs  upwards  of  one  hundred  tons.  This 
is  the  block  described  and  illustrated  on  page  241. 


302    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

To  come  back  to  the  building  of  the  Teatro  Drammatico. 
After  clearing  away  the  remains  of  the  house  of  Sergius, 


The  Temple  of  the  Sun  in  the  XVIth  century.     After  a  drawing  by  Stefano  dn 

Perac  (1575). 

above  described,  we  met  with  a  fragment  of  the  Servian 
walls,  and  behind  it,  the  southwest  corner  of  the  founda- 
tions, or,  to  speak  more  precisely,  of  those  of  the  plat- 
form upon  which  stood  the  temple  and  its  surroundings. 
The  foundations  are  built  of  concrete,  six  feet  in  thick- 
ness, and  cross  each  other  at  right  angles,  according  to 
the  lines  of  the  colonnades  above.  The  space  between 
these  walls  was  not  empty.  I  mean  it  was  not  used  as 
a  vault,  or  cellar,  or  crypt,  but  was  entirely  filled  up  with 


BRONZE  STATUE  OF  AN  ATHLETE. 

Discovered  1885. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.     303 

clay  and  loose  earth.  This  circumstance  makes  more  cu- 
rious and  interesting  the  discovery  which  I  am  going  to 
relate. 

On  Saturday,  February  7,  1885,  toward  sunset,  a  work- 
man engaged  in  clearing  away  the  rubbish  which  filled 
up  the  space  between  the  first  and  the  second  foundation 
walls,  discovered  the  forearm  of  a  bronze  statue,  which  was 
lying  on  its  back,  at  a  depth  of  seventeen  feet  below  the 
level  of  the  platform  of  the  temple.  The  news  was  kept 
secret  by  the  contractor  of  the  works  until  the  following 
day ;  and  when  the  government  officials  met  on  the  spot 
the  statue  had  been  already  removed  from  its  place  of  con- 
cealment, and  consequently  we  were  not  able  to  study  and 
take  notice  of  the  circumstances  of  the  discovery,  which, 
however  minute  and  uninteresting  they  may  appear  at  first 
sight,  sometimes  throw  an  unexpected  light  on  problems 
otherwise  very  hard  to  deal  with. 

This  noble  figure  is  seven  feet  four  inches  high,  two  feet 
wide  at  the  shoulders,  and  represents  a  nude  athlete,  or  at 
least  a  man  of  the  athletic  type,  in  the  full  development  of 
his  strength,  whose  features  are  evidently  modelled  from 
nature ;  in  other  words,  it  is  a  portrait  statue.  Some  adepts 
of  that  modern  archaeological  school  which  attempts  the 
identification  of  everything  have  started  the  idea  that  the 
statue  may  represent  one  of  the  Macedonian  kings,  —  I  do 
not  now  remember  which ;  but  there  seems  to  be  hardly  any 
foundation  for  such  a  statement.  The  figure  stands  on  the 
left  leg,  the  right  being  extended  a  little  forwards.  The 
right  arm  is  bent  behind  the  back  and  rests  on  the  hip, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  Vatican  Meleager  and  the  Farnese 
Hercules.  The  left  arm  is  raised  high  above  the  head, 
and  was  supported  by  a  rod  or  a  lance,  the  traces  of  which 


304    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

are  to  be  seen  all  along  the  forearm.     On  the  breast  of  the 

figure  the  letters 

L  •  vis  •  L  •  xxnx 

were  engraved  at  a  very  late  period  ;  that  is  to  say,  many 
years,  centuries  perhaps,  after  the  removal  of  the  statue 
from  Greece  to  Rome.  These  letters  have  given  rise  to 
much  speculation.  They  have  even  been  read  and  ex- 
plained as  follows :  L(ucius)  VlS(uUius)  L(uctavit)  XXIIX., 
— "  Lucius  Visullius  fought  in  the  arena  twenty-eight 
times  !  "  I  need  not  dwell  on  such  absurdities  ;  the  truth 
being  that  nobody  —  not  even  the  great  Mommsen  —  has 
been  able  to  give  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  myste- 
rious signs. 

The  excitement  created  by  this  extraordinary  discovery 
had  scarcely  abated,  when,  about  a  month  later,  a  second 
bronze  statue  was  dug  up,  under  the  same  circumstances  as 
related  above.  The  discovery  took  place  between  the  sec- 
ond and  third  foundation  walls,  at  a  depth  of  eighteen  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  platform.  Being  notified  at  once, 
we  assembled  this  time  on  the  spot  and  were  present 
when  only  the  head  of  the  figure  appeared  above  the 
ground,  and  consequently  we  could  follow  and  study  the 
minutest  details  of  the  discovery.  On  the  opposite  page 
is  a  drawing  from  a  photograph  taken  at  the  moment  of 
the  discovery. 

The  most  important  piece  of  evidence  collected  in  wit- 
nessing and  following  the  removal  of  the  earth  in  which 
the  masterpiece  lay  buried  is  that  the  statue  had  not  been 
thrown  in  there,  or  buried  in  haste,  but  had  been  concealed 
and  treated  with  the  utmost  care.  The  figure,  being  in  a 
sitting  posture,  had  been  placed  on  a  stone  capital  of  the 
Doric  order,  as  upon  a  stool ;  and  the  trench,  which  had 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.     305 

been  opened  through  the  lower  foundations  of  the  temple 
of  the  Sun,  to  conceal  the  statue,  had  been  filled  up  with 
sifted  earth,  in  order  to  save  the  surface  of  the  bronze  from 
any  possible  injury. 


' 


Site  of  the  discovery  of  the  Sitting  Boxer. 

I  have  witnessed,  in  my  long  career  in  the  active  field  of 
archaeology,  many  discoveries ;  I  have  experienced  surprise 
after  surprise ;  I  have  sometimes  and  most  unexpectedly 
met  with  real  masterpieces ;  *  but  I  have  never  felt  such 

1  To  convey  an  idea  of  the  riches  some  figures  from  the  municipal  sta- 

which  our  Roman  soil  is  still  capable  tistics.    From  January  1,  1872,  to  De- 

of  yielding,  after   so  many  centuries  cember  31,  1885,  works  of  art  and  ob- 

of  uninterrupted  excavations,  I  quote  jects  of  virtu  were  found  in  building  the 


306    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART. 

an  extraordinary  impression  as  the  one  created  by  the  sight 
of  this  magnificent  specimen  of  a  semi  -  barbaric  athlete, 
coming  slowly  out  of  the  ground,  as  if  awakening  from  a 
long  repose  after  his  gallant  fights.  (See  Frontispiece.) 
His  body  is  bent  slightly  forward ;  his  elbows  rest  on  his 
knees;  his  attitude  is  that  of  a  boxer  (pankratiastes)  ex- 
hausted by  the  numerous  blows  received,  the  traces  of 
which  are  visible  all  over  his  body.  The  face,  of  the  type 
of  Hercules,  is  turned  towards  the  left ;  the  mouth  is  half 
open ;  the  lips  seem  to  quiver,  as  if  speaking  to  some  one ; 
in  fact,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  statue  belongs  to  a  group. 
Every  detail  is  absolutely  realistic :  the  nose  is  swoUen  from 
the  effects  of  the  last  blow  received ;  the  ears  resemble  a  flat 
and  shapeless  piece  of  leather ;  the  neck,  the  shoulders,  the 
breast,  are  seamed  with  scars.  The  modelling  of  the  mus- 
cles of  the  arms  and  of  the  back  is  simply  wonderful.  The 
gallant  champion  is  panting  from  sheer  fatigue,  but  he  is 
ready  to  start  up  again  at  the  first  call.  The  details  of  the 
fur-lined  boxing-gloves  are  also  interesting,  and  one  won- 
ders how  any  human  being,  no  matter  how  strong  and  pow- 
erful, could  stand  the  blows  from  such  weapons  as  these 
gloves,  made  of  four  or  five  thicknesses  of  leather  and  for- 
tified with  brass  buckles. 

This  bronze  was  at  first  thought  to  belong  to  the  best 
period  of  Grseco-Roman  sculpture ;  the  majority  of  connois- 
seurs and  archaeologists  are  now  in  favor  of  a  purely  Greek 
origin.  This  latter  opinion,  to  which  I  fully  subscribe,  is 
confirmed  to  a  certain  degree  by  a  circumstance  which  loses 

new  quarters  as  follows :  192  marble  intaglios,  and  precious  stones,  47  ob- 

statues,  266  busts  and  heads,  152  bas-  jects   in  gold,   39   objects    in    silver, 

reliefs,  77  columns,  2,360  lamps,  1,824  36,679  coins  in  gold,  silver,  and  bronze, 

inscriptions,  405  bronzes,  711  cameos,  etc. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART.     307 

none  of  its  importance  because  it  is  small.  Under  the  mid- 
dle toe  of  the  left  foot  I  have  discovered  the  existence  of 
a  big  A,  which  was  not  engraved  after  the  casting  (as  is 
the  case  with  the  signs  on  the  breast  of  the  standing  ath- 
lete), but  cast  at  the  same  time  with  the  figure.  The  let- 
ter is  not  a  Latin  A,  but  a  Greek  Alpha,  and  of  a  rather 
early  shape,  its  height  and  width  being  absolutely  the  same. 
This  minute  circumstance  proves,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
that  the  work  was  not  cast  in  Rome,  but  in  Greece,  and 
cast  at  a  comparatively  early  period. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  building  in  which  the  two  stat- 
ues were  exhibited  in  Rome,  and  from  which  they  were 
removed  under  the  apprehension  of  danger,  to  be  buried  so 
carefully  and  at  such  a  depth,  was  the  baths  of  Constan- 
tine,  separated  from  the  temple  of  the  Sun  by  a  narrow 
street.  Statues  of  athletes  were  the  special  ornament  of 
Roman  thermae,  and  those  of  Constantine  must  have  pos- 
sessed their  share  of  this  class  of  works  in  metal  and  mar- 
ble. No  doubt  many  more  statues  may  be  found  if  a 
proper  search  is  made  under  the  foundations  of  the  tem- 
ple ;  the  work,  however,  is  difficult,  costly,  and  not  exempt 
from  danger,  on  account  of  the  modern  buildings  under 
which  the  exploration  would  have  to  be  extended. 

The  third  bronze  statue,  discovered  in  Rome  in  the 
spring  of  1885,  comes  from  the  bed  of  the  Tiber,  from  that 
mighty  reservoir  of  antiquities  which  seems  to  be  inex- 
haustible. It  was  found  in  making  the  foundations  of  the 
middle  pier  for  the  new  bridge  (Ponte  Garibaldi  alia  Re- 
gola),  which  spans  the  river  between  the  Ponte  Sisto  and 
the  island  of  S.  Bartolomeo. 

The  statue  was  found  in  an  almost  perpendicular  position, 
head  downwards,  sixteen  feet  below  the  bottom  of  the  river, 


308    LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF   WORKS   OF  ART* 

and  twenty-six  below  the  surface  of  the  waters.  The  merry 
god  is  represented  in  the  full  bloom  of  youth,  and  has  a  de- 
cidedly feminine  type,  especially  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
long,  curling  hair,  which  is  parted  in  the  middle  and  fas- 
tened with  a  band  at  the  forehead.  The  band  is  grace- 
fully inlaid  with  copper  and  silver.  The  eyeballs  are  made 
of  a  soft  yellowish  stone  called  palombino. 

This  figure,  compared  with  the  two  superb  masterpieces 
from  Constantine's  baths,  seems  altogether  too  tame,  and 
need  not  be  described  at  length.  It  is,  nevertheless,  a 
Graeco-Roman  work  of  the  first  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  —  a  fact  proved,  first,  by  the  stiffness,  and,  as  we  Ital- 
ians say,  by  the  maniera,  or  conventionality  of  the  attitude 
and  outline  of  the  figure ;  secondly,  by  the  impression  of 
a  coin  on  the  calf  of  the  left  leg.  Our  best  numismatists 
think  that  this  coin  must  have  been  an  imperial  gold  piece, 
probably  of  the  time  of  Nero. 

The  lower  portion  of  the  body  has  evidently  suffered 
from  the  effects  of  fire  ;  but  under  what  circumstances,  by 
whom,  at  what  period,  this  valuable  work  of  art  was  hurled 
into  midstream,  it  is  impossible  to  determine.  Its  discov- 
ery, at  all  events,  affords  us  a  compensation  for  the  many 
losses  which  the  gigantic  work  of  the  embankment  of  the 
river  makes  us  suffer.  One  of  these  losses,  the  greatest 
perhaps  of  all,  is  the  destruction,  or,  to  speak  more  exactly, 
the  deformation  of  the  ancient  bridge  connecting  the  island 
of  S.  Bartolomeo  with  Trastevere,  to  which  bridge  two 
modern  arches  will  be  added  on  each  side,  as  the  bed  of  the 
Tiber  must  be  widened  there.  The  bridge  represented  was 
built  twenty-one  centuries  ago  by  Lucius  Cestius,  and  re- 
stored, A.  D.  380,  by  the  Emperor  Gratianus,  with  blocks 


BRONZE   STATUE   OF  BACCHUS. 
Found  in  the  bed  of  the  Tiber. 


LOSS  AND  RECOVERY  OF  WORKS  OF  ART.    309 

of  travertine  stolen  from  the  theatre  of  Marcellus,  close  by, 
—  a  circumstance  which  shows  to  what  degree  of  poverty 
and  humiliation  Rome,  the  queen  of  the  world,  had  de- 
scended, at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian 
era. 


Bridge  built  by  Lucius  Cestius. 


INDEX. 


Latin  personal  names  are,  in  general,  entered  tinder  the  cognomen,  except  in  cases 
where  some  other  part  of  the  name  has  come  into  general  use. 


ABBUZZI,  71. 

Accidents  in  the  streets,  213 ;  in  the  cir- 
cuses, etc.,  216. 
Acta  diurna,  92. 
Acta  sincera  Martyrum,  186. 
Adriano  (S.),  church  of,  24,  78  (cut),  79 

(cut). 

^Edes  Castorum,  80. 
^Emilia,  basilica,  77,  83. 
JKin-as,  sails  into  the  Tiber,  232. 
.ZEs  grave  signatum,  47. 
xEs  rude,  47. 
.Ksculapius.    temple    of,    69;    the    sick 

brought  to,  70. 

Affliano,  Monte,  tunnel  through,  62. 
Agapetus,  Pope,  founds  a  university  for 

Christian  teaching,  190. 
Agger  of  Servius  Tullius,  65,  302. 
Agitatores  circenses,  213. 
Agnes  (S.),  catacombs  of,  153. 
Agnese    (S.)   fuori  le  inura,  cloister  of, 

23. 
Agrippa,    Fonteius,    daughter    of,    136, 

138. 
Agrippa,  M.  Vipsanius,  public  buildings 

of,  95  ;  enters  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  233. 
Agrippina    the   elder,   cinerary   urn   of, 

22. 

Agrippina,  the  younger,  Empress,  105. 
Ain-Seur,  spring  of,  furnished  water  for 

Saldae,  61. 

Alaric,  158,  290,  291. 
Alatri,  siphon  of,  60. 
Alba  Longa,  remains  found  on  the  site 

of,  30 ;  traffic  with  the  Etruscans,  31 ; 

original    site    of,    31 ;    colonists    from 

build     Rome,     33 ;      colonists     from 

shepherds,  35  ;  the  advance  to  Rome 

gradual,  36  ;  no  iron  found  in  the  fossil 

cemetery,  39. 
Alban  Hills,  27  (cut)  ;  traces  of  the  work 

of  man  found    in  many   places,  30 ; 

early  volcanic  action,  32. 
Albano,  Lake  of,  30  (map),  280. 


Albanian,  146  ;  house  of  Vestals  at,  17L 

Albergo  della  Catena,  69. 

Albula,  ancient  name  of  the  Tiber,  262. 

Alcibiades,  statue  of,  81. 

Alemona,  goddess,  69. 

Alexander  VII.,  Pope,  4,  15,  110,  157. 

Alexandria,  libraries  at,  183,  185. 

Almo  river,  marble  group  discovered  in, 
22. 

Alsiuni.  51. 

Alta  semita,  144. 

Altar  found  at  Ostia,  34  (cut)  ;  discov- 
ered in  1866  near  Lambsese,  61 ;  dedi- 
cated to  Cloacina,  52;  to  goddess  of 
the  Fever,  52 ;  to  Mala  Fortuna,  52 ; 
to  Mefitis,  52;  to  Sylvanns,  100;  to 
Verminus,  52  (cut). 

Amandus,  bishop  of  Trajectum,  200. 

Ambrose,  S.,  163. 

Ambnrbalia,  169. 

Amburbium,  174. 

Ammianns  Marcellinus,  quoted,  88. 

Amphorae,  remains  of  in  the  Monte  Tes- 
taccio,  251  (cut),  254  (cut) ;  their  ex- 
tensive use,  252 ;  found  off  the  Capo 
della  Campanella,  252 ;  off  Astura, 
253. 

Amulets,  arrow-heads,  etc.,  used  as,  44. 

Amyclas,  240. 

Anatomical  models  discovered  near  the 
temple  of  ^-Esculapius.  70. 

Ancona,  248. 

Ancns  Martins,  builder  of  the  Snblician 
bridge,  40 ;  founds  Ostia,  234. 

Andreozzi,  Lorenzo  Simone,  master  ma- 
son, 300. 

i  Andronikos  of  Rhodes,  180. 
!  Angelo  (S.),  castle  of,  Hadrian's  mauso- 
leum, 157,  286,  293. 
•  Anician  gardens,  100. 
S  Aniene   river,   source  of    the    aqueduct 

Anio  Novus,  60. 
1  Anio,  261,  274. 
,  Ansarinm,  251. 


312 


INDEX. 


Antemnae,  50. 
Antevorta,  goddess,  69. 
Anthermos,  sculptor,  114. 

Antiquarii,  183,  199. 

Antiquities  of  the  earliest  period,  26- 
48 ;  loss  and  recovery  of,  284—309 ;  num- 
ber of  discovered  from  1872  to  1885, 
305. 

Antium,  51. 

Antoninus  and  Faustina,  temple  of,  155. 

Antoninus,  M.  Aurelius,  arch  of,  demol- 
ished in  1652,  15 ;  equestrian  statue 
of,  12,  21,  156,  285. 

Antoninus  Pius,  245 ;  organized  public 
medical  service,  73 ;  column  of,  157. 

Antonius,  Marcus,  185. 

Anzio,  Porto  d',  253. 

Apellikon,  library  of,  179. 

Apollinare  (S.)  in  Classe,  church  of,  in 
Ravenna,  197. 

Apollinares  aquae.  See  VicareUo,  Sor- 
genti  di. 

Apollinaris,  Sidonius,  statue  of,  292. 

Apollo  and  Diana,  in  a  chariot,  marble 
group,  110. 

Apollo  and  Marsyas,  engraved  on  a  cor- 
nelian, 19. 

Apollo,  chariot  of,  on  his  temple,  114. 

Apollo,  library  of,  184,  186. 

Apollo,  street  of,  110. 

Apollo,  temple  of,  69,  114;  frieze,  114 
(cut)  ;  burned,  115. 

Apollodorus,  architect,  86. 

Apollonius  Thyaneus,  medallion  of,  194, 
200  (cut). 

Apostoli  (SS.),  piazza  dei,  224 ;  porch  and 
convent  of,  23. 

Apoxyomenos  of  Lysippus,  296. 

Appian  Way,  130,  260  (cut),  264,  266, 
268 ;  beggars  on,  209. 

Appius  Claudius  Caecus,  builder  of  the 
first  aqueduct,  58. 

Appius  Claudius  Pulcher,  celebrates  his  , 
triumph  under  the  protection  of  a  Ves-  I 
tal,  138. 

Apronianus,  prefect  of  police,  115. 

Apse  of  the  early  basilicas,  its  peculiar  , 
form  explained,  187. 

Aqua  Appia,  58.  . 

Aqua  Ferentina,  30. 

Aqua  Julia,  fountain,  Petrarch's  view 
of,  5. 

Aqua  Juturna,  76,  80. 

Aqua  Paola,  fountain,  15. 

Aquae.     See  also  Aqueducts. 

Aquae  Albulse,  124. 

Aquae  Apollinares.  See  VicareUo,  Sor- 
genti  di. 

Aquarius,  131. 

Aqueducts,  58;  junction  of  five  great 
aqueducts,  63  (cut) ;  fortified  by  the 
barbarians  in  the  Gothic  war,  277 ; 


Anio  Novus,  58  (cut),  60;  Appia,  58; 
Claudia,  58  (cut),  278  ;  Marcia,  278. 

Aracoeli,  church  of  the,  300. 

Arbogastes,  murderer  of  Valentinian  II., 
173. 

Arcagathus,  a  physician,  72. 

Arcesilaos,  84. 

Archaeology,  the  science  of,  a  late  devel- 
opment, 4 ;  rise  of  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, 9;  the  joys  and  emotions  which 
the  study  affords,  23 ;  American  prog- 
ress in,  25  ;  character  of  the  study  of, 
by  men  of  the  Renaissance,  156. 

Arches,  of  Augustus,  155 ;  of  Constan- 
tine,  157 ;  of  Fabius  Maximus,  80, 
155 ;  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  demolished 
in  1662,  15;  of  Piety,  in  front  of  the 
Pantheon,  3,  157;  of  Septimius  Seve- 
rus,  12 ;  of  Titus,  12,  203 ;  of  Trajan, 
87 ;  of  Valentinian  and  Valens,  257. 

Archiatrus,  superintendent  of  court  phy- 
sicians, 72. 

Architectural  beauty  aimed  at  in  works 
of  engineering,  247. 

Archives,  78 ;  papal  archives  collected  in 
the  Archivum  of  Damasus,  188;  trans- 
ferred to  the  Lateran,  189 ;  transferred 
to  the  Turris  Cartularia,  203 ;  destroyed, 
204. 

Archivum  of  Pope  Damasus,  188;  de- 
stroyed in  1486,  189. 

Arco  de'  Pantani,  85. 

Ardea,  51. 

Arezzo,  Leonardo  d',  20. 

Argiletum,  82 ;  the  book  -  market  of 
Rome,  183. 

Argonauts,  portico  of,  96,  98. 

Aricia,  beggars  near  the  gate  of,  209. 

Aristocracy  of  Rome,  compared  with  that 
of  England,  265  ;  their  season  in  Rome 
short,  265;  their  duties,  265;  their 
country  life,  265. 

Aristotiles,  Master,  13. 

Aristotle,  182;  his  library,  179;  on  the 
use  of  iced  water.  186. 

Aries,  Roman  cemetery  mentioned  by 
Dante,  2. 

Armaria,  194,  197. 

Arnaldo  da  Brescia,  17. 

Arrow-heads,  found  in  Rome,  44 ;  used 
to  ornament  diadems  and  helmets,  45 ; 
discovered  in  1874  near  the  church  of 
S.  Martino  ai  Monti,  45  ;  found  in  1852 
in  the  springs  at  VicareUo,  47. 

Arvales  Fratres,  origin  and  ritual,  42 ; 
their  annals  discovered  in  1868,  42 ; 
the  importance  of  them,  43  ;  avoided 
the  use  of  iron,  43  ;  use  of  earthenware 
vessels,  44 ;  wide  dispersion  of  the  frag- 
ments of  their  annals,  152 ;  situation  of 
their  temple,  153. 

Asclepias  of  Drusa,  a  physician,  72. 


INDEX 


313 


Aspendus,  59. 

Assfinani.  S.  E.  and  J.  S.,  their  catalogue 
of  -the  Vatican  library,  197. 

Astura,  253. 

Arturconarius,  132. 

Athletes,  statues  of,  found  in  1885  on  the 
Quirinal,  298  ;  description  of,  302  (he- 
liotype);  bronze  statues  of,  303,  305 
(cut) ;  frontispiece  (heliotype). 

Atia,  mother  of  Augustus,  91. 

Atilius,  builds  a  temporary  amphitheatre 
at  Fidense,  217. 

Atrectus,  publisher  for  Martial,  183. 

Atrium  Libertatis,  184. 

Atrium  Vestse.     See  Vestals,  house  of. 

Atticus,  T.  Pomponius,   his  library,  180. 

Augusta,  Empress  of  Germany,  42,  44, 
153. 

Augustanus  Laurentium,  Vicus,  243. 

Augustus,  Emperor,  72,  80,  83,  94,  140, 
163,  244 ;  excavates  on  the  island  of 
Capri,  45 ;  reforms  the  public  cemetery 
on  the  Esquiline,  67  ;  enlarges  the  Fo- 
rum, 84 ;  born  on  the  Palatine,  106 ; 
his  palace  burned,  107 ;  money  sub- 
scribed to  rebuild  it,  108 ;  establishes 
state  libraries,  184 ;  covers  the  Empire 
•with  military  and  police  stations,  210 ; 
reforms  the  fire  service,  222. 

Augustus,  arch  of,  155 ;  colossal  statue 
of,  112;  house  of,  107,  116:  library  of, 
111  ;  obelisk  of,  157;  temple  of,  155. 

Aurelian,  Emperor,  174,  266 ;  his  tem- 
ple to  the  Sun,  298,  300,  302  (cut),  241 
(cut). 

Aurelius  Titus,  141. 

Aurifices,  131. 

Austin,  S.,  200. 

Avianius  Symmachus,  L.  Aurelius,  257. 

Bacchus,  theatre  of,  in  Athens,  183 ; 
bronze  statue  of,  308  (heliotype). 

Bacci,  Ales,  quoted,  57. 

Balbus,  Cornelius,  crypta  of,  95. 

Balestra  palace,  224. 

Bankers  on  the  Forum,  80. 

Barberini  palace,  69;  piazza,  100;  villa, 
279,  280. 

Bartoli,  Pietro  Santi,  quoted,  225. 

Bartolomeo  (S. ),  island  of,  69,  258. 

Basilica  ^Emilia,  77,  83 ;  Fulvia,  83 ;  Por- 
cia,  79,  83  ;  Sempronia,  83 ;  Ulpia,  87. 

Basilicas  (Christian),  cause  of  the  trichora 
form  of  the  apse,  187  ;  Damasiana,  190 ; 
S.  Lorenzo,  188 ;  S.  Paolo  fuori  le 
mura,  83. 

Bas-reliefs,  representing  Trajan  and  the 
poor  widow,  described  by  Dante,  3 ; 
Perseus  and  Andromeda,  225  ;  a  stur- 
geon, 233;  the  Claudian  harbor,  247: 
unloading  a  ship,  252 ;  ivory,  on  the 
doors  of  the  temple  of  Apollo,  114. 


Bassus,  L.  Julius,  of  Drobeta,  212. 

Baths,  89-94;  hours  of  opening,  90; 
places  of  debauchery,  91 ;  women  at, 
91 ;  abuses  remedied  by  Hadrian,  92 ; 
manner  of  use,  92 ;  organization  of  ser- 
vice, 93 ;  supervised  by  the  pnef ectus 
vigilum,  223 ;  —  of  Caracalla,  5,  90 
cut),  93,  94  (cut),  153;  of  Constantine, 
307;  of  Licinius  Sura,  157;  of  Severus 
Alexander,  157 ;  of  Titus,  13,  125. 

Becker,  Gust.,  collection  of  catalogues  of 
libraries,  199. 

Becker,  Wilh.  Ad.,  quoted,  269 ;  on  the 
artificial  style  of  Roman  gardens,  272. 

Bede  quoted,  201. 

Beggars,  209. 

Belisarins,  292,  293. 

Benci,  Gius.,  130. 

Benedict  or  Biscopus,  his  journeys  to 
Rome  to  obtain  books,  201. 

Benedict,  monk  of  Mt.  Soracte,  quoted, 
285. 

Benzone,  tenuta  di,  268. 

Bernini,  Lorenzo,  house  of,  157. 

Betilienus  Varus,  60. 

Bianchini,  Franc.,  quoted,  128,  130. 

Biblia  pauperum,  202. 

Bibliothecse.     See  Libraries. 

Biondo,  Fl. .  patronized  by  Paul  II.,  12. 

Biscopus,  or  Benedict,  his  journeys  to 
Rome  to  obtain  books,  201. 

Blacas,  Due  de,  on  the  remains  discov- 
ered in  the  Pascolare  di  Castello,  30. 

Blouet,  Abel,  excavations,  93. 

Boarium,  Forum,  22,  56,  219. 

Bocca  della  Verita,  56  (cut). 

Bona  Dea,  temple  of,  on  M.  Affliano,  62. 

Bona ventura,  S.,  church  of,  106. 

Boniface  VIII.,  Pope,  his  collection  of 
cameos,  16. 

Boniface,  Anti-pope,  285. 

Bonini,  on  the  level  of  the  Tiber,  233. 

Bonus  Eventus,  portico  of,  96. 

Book-binding,  198. 

Book-cases,  inscriptions  on,  194. 

Book-market,  183. 

Books,  editions  de  luxe  prized  by  Roman 
collectors,  182 ;  portrait  of  the  author 
on  the  title-page,  182 ;  price  of,  182 ; 
size  of  editions,  183  ;  spurious  editions 
circulated,  183 ;  with  ivory  leaves,  184 ; 
each  work  divided  into  many  volumes, 
185;  a  special  place  provided  for  in 
Christian  basilicas,  187  ;  position  on  the 
shelves,  197;  vast  numbers  circulated 
by  Cassiodorius  and  Eugippius,  199 ; 
titles  of,  199;  eagerly  sought  by  the 
English  monasteries,  201 ;  illustration 
of,  202. 

Bougie,  Algeria,  tunnel  near,  61. 

Bovillse.  64. 

Boxer,  bronze  statue  of,  found  in  1885, 


314 


INDEX. 


304,  305  (cut),  frontispiece;  proved  to 
be  Greek,  306. 

Bozrah,  37. 

Bracciano,  Lago  di,  47. 

Bracciolini,  Poggio,  excuses  Petrarch's 
ignorance,  5 ;  a  collector  of  antiques, 
19 ;  letter  on  discoveries  in  Chios,  19. 

Braghettone,  II,  10. 

Bramante,  190. 

Brancaccio  palace,  169. 

Braun,  Emil,  quoted,  296. 

Bridges.     See  Pons,  Ponte. 

Brigandage,  210. 

Brindisi,  238. 

Bronze  age  in  Central  Italy,  when  Rome 
was  founded,  39. 

Bronze  plough  used  to  trace  the  limits  of 
a  newly-founded  town,  40. 

Bronze  razor  and  knife  used  by  the  Fla- 
men  Dialis,  40. 

Bronzes  in  Rome  in  the  sixth  century, 
284 ;  manner  of  their  destruction,  289 ; 
those  preserved  had  been  concealed, 
296 ;  found  in  the  Vicolo  delle  Palme, 
in  Trastevere,  296 ;  at  the  corner  of  the 
Via  del  Babuino  and  the  Via  del  Gesu- 
Maria,  297 ;  at  the  corner  of  the  Via 
Nazionale  and  the  Via  di  S.  Euf  emia, 
297 ;  horse  in  the  Palazzo  de'  Conserva- 
tori,  296 ;  pine-cone,  286 ;  she-wolf,  21 
(cut),  285.  See  also  Statues. 

Bruchion,  at  Alexandria,  183, 185. 

Brunellesco,  Filippo,  18. 

Brutus,  bust  of,  22. 

Building  stone,  importation  of,  241. 

Bupalos,  sculptor,  114. 

Bura,  temple  of,  288. 

Burial,  of  artisans,  94 ;  of  slaves  and 
beggars,  64 ;  in  the  moat  outside  the 
Esquiline  cemetery,  discovered  in  1876, 
65.  See  also  Tombs. 

Busentinus  river,  the  treasures  of  Alaric 
supposed  to  be  buried  in,  291. 

Butcher  shops,  80. 

Caecilianus,  Alfius,  magistrate  of  Autun, 
187. 

Caecina  Paetus,  chief  commissioner  of  the 
Tiber,  257. 

Csecubus  wine,  240. 

Cassar,  Julius,  72,  80,  140 ;  enlarges  the 
Forum,  83 ;  his  horse,  84 ;  proposes 
a  harbor  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber, 
238 ;  equestrian  statue  of,  84 ;  gar- 
dens of,  103  ;  temple  of,  155. 

Caesars,  palace  of,  106  (plan),  133. 

Calaetus,  Roman  knight,  murdered,  212. 

.Calciator,  132. 

Caligula,  91,  238 ;  marries  Lollia  Pau- 
lina, 104  ;  his  additions  to  the  imperial 
palace,  108,  116,  117  (cut),  119  (cut) ; 
substructure  of  palace  of,  116  (cut)  ; 


his  death,  117  ;  his  passion  for  the  cir- 
cus, 119,  214. 

Caligula,  obelisk  of,  13. 

Calixtus,  S.,  catacombs  of,  inscription  in 
regard  to  the  Roman  Academy,  10. 

Callistratus,  Q.  Veturius,  141. 

Calvus,  house  of,  106. 

Cameos,  16. 

Camillus,  48,  218 ;  statue  of,  22. 

Campagna,  259-283 ;  originally  healthy, 
50 ;  described  by  Chateaubriand,  259 ; 
its  grandeur,  260 ;  its  beauty,  260  ;  its 
light,  266 ;  its  desolation,  262  ;  former 
populousness,  263  ;  its  villas,  264  ;  gen- 
eral aspect  in  former  times,  267 ;  an- 
cient remains  very  abundant,  268; 
roads,  268 ;  insecurity  of  during  the 
barbarian  invasions,  276. 

Campana  Via,  42,  153,  212. 

Campano,  Giov.  Ant.,  Bishop  of  Teramo, 
10. 

Campi,  or  commons,  74. 

Campidoglio,  piazza  del,  21. 

Campo  dei  Fiori,  piazza  di,  287- 

Campus  Martius,  50,  94,  300 ;  in  medi- 
aeval times,  57 ;  porticoes  of,  99. 

Campus  Sceleratus,  145. 

Canalicolse,  82. 

Canals,  proposed  by  Nero,  240. 

Cancelleria,  Palazzo  della,  23,  190. 

Cancellieri,  Franc,  on  the  sacred  relics 
preserved  by  the  Vestals,  147. 

Candelabras,  114. 

Canina,  quoted,  296. 

CapanneUe  race-course,  278. 

Capitol,  in  the  XVIth  century,  22  (cut). 

Capitoline  Hill,  originally  connected  with 
the  Quirinal,  86. 

Capitoline  Museum,  6,  85 ;  founded  by 
Sixtus  IV.,  22 ;  its  original  nucleus  dis- 
persed, 22. 

Capobianco,  266. 

Caprea  Palus,  51. 

Capri,  island  of,  excavations  made  by 
Augustus,  45. 

Caprino,  Meo  del,  16. 

Capsarius,  92,  131,  223. 

Caracalla,  baths  of,  5,  93,  94  (cut),  153 ; 
Frigidarium  of  the  baths  of,  90  (cut). 

Career  Tullianum,  75. 

Carnarium,  64. 

Carnival,  77. 

Carriage  driving  forbidden  in  Rome,  269. 

Carriages,  270  ;  used  by  the  Vestals,  139. 

Cartularia  Tun-is,  203  (cut),  205. 

Casa  della  Missione,  157. 

Casaccie,  tenuta  di,  268. 

Casino  del  Ligorio,  279  (cut). 

Cassiodorius  suggests  the  foundation  of 
a  Christian  university,  190  ;  his  collec- 
tion of  rare  books,  198;  quoted,  89, 
292. 


INDEX. 


315 


Castel  Gandolfo,  27  (cut),  27!». 

Castel  Giubileo,  217. 

Castel  Porziano,  243. 

Castellani,  Carlo,  on  ancient  libraries, 
179. 

Castello,  Lago  di,  27. 

Castello,  Pascolare  di,  strata  of  the  soil, 
28   (cut) ;    geological  history  of,  28 ; 
early  remains  discovered  here  in  1817,  | 
29 ;  further  discoveries  in  1867,  30. 

Castor  and  Pollux,  temple  of,  80,  150, 
155,  156. 

Castriniceninra,  264. 

Catacombs,  of  S.  Agnes,  153 ;  of  S.  Ca- 
lixtus,  inscription  in  regard  to  the  Ro- 
man Academy,  10 ;  of  Priscilla,  175. 

Catalogues  of  books,  199. 

Catania,  abbey  of  S.  Nicola  dell'  Arena, 
7. 

Catena,  Albergo  della,  69. 

Catiline,  palace  of,  107. 

Cato,  the  censor,  245. 

Catullus,  Claudius,  prefect  of  police, 
226. 

Ceccarelli  family,  42. 

Celer,  architect  under  Nero,  122,  240. 

Celer,  accomplice  of  Domitian,  146. 

Celer,  Petronius,  governor  of  Mauritania, 
62. 

Celimontana,  Villa,  227. 

Celsus  Aurelianus,  quoted,  68. 

Cencins  Camerarius,  quoted,  286. 

Cemetery,  public,  on  the  Esquiline,  64; 
reformed  under  Augustus,  67  ;  covered 
and  turned  into  gardens,  101  ;  discov- 
ered by  the  Archaeological  Commission, 
102. 

Ceolfridus,  Abbot,  197,  202. 

Cephisodotos,  114. 

Ceres,  priestesses  of,  143 ;  temple  of,  in 
Ostia,  34. 

Cestius,  Caius,  pyramid  of,  Petrarch's 
view  of,  5. 

Cestins,  Lucius,  bridge  built  by,  308,  309 
(cut). 

Charioteers  of  the  circus,  213. 

Charity,  unknown,  68. 

Charles  V.,  of  France,  16. 

Charles  VI.,  of  France,  16. 

Charles  d'  Anjou,  statue  of,  22. 

Chateaubriand,  quoted,  259. 

Cherea,  Cassius,  murderer  of  Caligula,  1 18. 

Chigi  library,  7. 

Chios,  ancient  marbles  sent  from  to 
Italy,  19. 

Christ  caricatured  in  a  graffito,  122. 

Christianity,  struggle  with  paganism  in 
the  fourth  century,  162. 

Churches,  S.  Adriano,  24,  78  (cut),  79 
(cut)  ;  S.  Agnese  f  uori  le  mnra,  23  ; 
SS.  Apostoli,  23;  Aracojli,  300;  S. 
Bonaventura,  106 ;  S.  Clement,  199 ; 


SS.  Cosma  and  Damiano,  '24  ;  S.  Criso- 

fono,  121,  229 ;  S.  Gregorio,  197  (cut) ; 
.  John  Lateran,  6  ;  S.  Lorenzo  in  Da- 
maso,  188  ;  Madonna  della  Febbre,  53 ; 
Madonna  della  Pieta,  4  ;  S.  Maria  dell' 
Anima,  157  ;  S.  Maria  in  Campitelli,  13  ; 
S.  Maria  in  Cosmedin,  56 ;  S.  Maria 
Maggiore,  15,  157 ;  S.  Maria  del  Po- 
polo,  156 ;  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere,  151 ; 
S.  Martino  ai  Monti,  192  ;  S.  Paolo  f  uori 
le  mnra,  150;  S.  Peter,  153,  154,  165; 
S.  Saba,  226 ;  S.  Stefano  delle  Carozze, 
24;  S.  Vito,  152. 

Cicero,  bis  library,  put  in  order  by  two 
bookbinders  from  Atticus,  180 ;  quoted, 
51,  71,  78,  147,  242. 

Cilo,  Fabius,  prefect  .of  the  city,  226- 

Cinerary  urns,  discovered  in  the  Pasco- 
lare di  Castello  in  1817,  29. 

Cinquecento  masters,  23 ;  value  of  their 
drawings  in  solving  archaeological  prob- 
lems, 24  ;  their  admiration  for  ancient 
remains,  156 ;  their  wanton  destruction 
of  them,  156,  276. 

Circeum,  Cape,  238. 

Circus  Maximus,  the  stables  of  the  factio 
prasina,  188 ;  its  factions,  213  ;  public 
tumults  caused  by,  214;  the  jockeys, 
214 ;  mosaic,  214  (cut) ;  the  horses, 
215  ;  other  circuses,  216. 

Claudia,  Vestal,  171. 

Claudian  harbor,  at  Ostia,  238,  239  (cut), 
243 ;  representations  of,  preserved,  246 
(cut) ;  bas-relief  of,  246  (cut) ;  ware- 
houses, 248  (cut). 

Claudiana,  Coalia,  Vestal,  159. 

Claudianus,  quoted,  45. 

Claudius,  Emperor,  105,  113,  122,  238, 
242 ;  constructs  a  harbor  near  Ostia, 
238,  239  (cut) ;  medallion  of,  showing 
the  harbor  at  Ostia,  246  (cut). 

Claudius,  Appius.     See  Appius. 

Claudius,  C-,  censor,  127. 

Clemens,  Varius,  governor  of  Mauritania, 
61. 

Clement  VII.,  Pope,  57. 

Clement  XII.,  Pope,  157,  235. 

Clement  (S.),  church  of,  199. 

Clivns  Aricinus,  209. 

Clivns  Scauri,  190. 

Cloaca  Maxima,  54  (cut),  148,  155 ;  en- 
tered by  Agrippa,  233. 

Cloaca  of  the  Circus  Maximus,  55  (cut). 

Cloacina,  altar  to,  52. 

Clodia,  Vestal,  142. 

Clodia  via,  268. 

Clod  ins  Pulcher,  P.,  the  tribune,  his  body 
burned  in  the  Curia,  79. 

Clodius,  Sextus,  a  scribe,  79. 

Clnny  library,  199. 

Cojlian  hill,  51. 

Coins,  Petrarch's  collection,  5 ;  those  di» 


316 


INDEX. 


covered  at  the  Sorgenti  di  Vicarello  in 

1852,  46 ;  Anglo-Saxon  and  others,  dis- 
covered   under    the    pavement  of    the 

house  of  an  officer  of  Marinus  II.,  160. 
Cola  di  Rienzo.     See  Bienzi. 
Collatia,  50. 
Collegium,  128. 
Collegium  f  ullonum,  223. 
Collina  porta,  144. 
Colonna  gardens,  241,  301. 
Colosseum,  106,  125 ;  regarded  as  a  mere 

stone  quarry  in  the  fifteenth  century,  15, 

158 ;  set  on  fire  by  a  thunderbolt,  219 ; 

upper  part  shows  hasty  rebuilding,  220 

(cut). 
Columbaria,  64,    129;  discovered  under 

the  gardens  of  Licinius  Gallienus,  103 ; 

of  the  Statilian  family,  130;    of  the 

family  of  the  Empress  Livia,  130. 
Comitium,  76,  146. 
Commodus,  Emperor,  264. 
Commons,  74. 
Concord,  temple  of,  77. 
Concordia,  Caelia,  Vestal,  statue  of,  169. 
Condianus,  Quintilius,  his  villa,  264. 
Conservatori,  palazzo  dei,  21,   112,  233, 

286,  296. 
Constans    II.,    Emperor,    spoliations    in 

Rome,  158,  294. 

Constantia,  S.,  sarcophagus  of,  12. 
Constantina,  59. 
Constantino,  Emperor,  289 ;  arch  of,  157 ; 

baths  of,  307 ;  portico  of,  96,  298. 
Constantinople,  capture  of,  its  effect  on 

Greek  studies,  8. 
Constantius,  Emperor,  impressions  of  the 

Forum  of  Trajan,  88. 
Conze,  Alex.,  on  the  library  of  Perga- 

mon,  179. 

Corinthian  portico,  95. 
Corioli,  50. 
Corn-exchange,  94. 
Cornelia,  a  Vestal,  138,  146. 
Corsen,  Wilh.,  quoted,  37. 
Corsi,  Faustino,  on  the  number  of  ancient 

marble  columns  in  Rome,  242. 
Cosma  and  Damiano   (SS.),   church  of, 

24. 
Council  at  Rome  in  369,  its  records,  189 ; 

in  1649,  201. 

Country  dwellings.     See  Villas. 
Country  life,  267. 
Court-house,    77 ;   burned,    79 ;    rebuilt, 

80. 

Crassus,  L.,  242. 
Crater,  Cn.  Sergius,  house  of,  discovered 

in  1885,  298. 
Crescens,  a  jockey,  214  ;  inscription  from 

a  pedestal,  215  (cut). 
Crescentius,  Nicolaus,  house  of,  17  (cut). 
Crescenzio,    Monte,    trench    on,    showing 

strata,  28. 


Criobolium,  167. 

Crisogono,  S.,  church  of,  121,  229. 

Crucifixion,  caricature  of,  122  (cut). 

Crustumerium,  50. 

Crypta  of  Cornelius  Balbus,  95. 

Cubiculum,  107. 

Cucco,  Monte,  28. 

Curator  aquarum,  223. 

Curia,  or  senate-house,  76,  77,  78  (cut), 
79  (cut),  163 ;  plan  of  in  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, 80  (cut) ;  not  warmed  in  winter, 
78 ;  burned  by  a  mob,  79 ;  rebuilt,  80. 

Currus  arcuatus,  139. 

Curtius,  Marcus,  50. 

Custom  duty  and  the  remains  of  ampho- 
rae, 251. 

Cybele,  needle  of,  so-called,  brought 
from  Pessinus,  126 ;  removed  by  Hela- 

Sibalus,   127 ;  probably  discovered  by 
ianchini   in    1730,    128;    temple   of, 
127 ;  worship  of,  in  Pessinus,  126.   See 
also  Megalesia. 

Cybele  and  Atys,  shrine  of,  165. 
Cyme,  temple  of,  115. 
Cynosargos,  temple  of,  at  Athens,  288. 

Damasus,   Pope,    builds  the   Archivum, 

188. 

Danaids,  statues  of,  111. 
Dante   Alighieri,   references    to   antique 

monuments,  1 ;  quoted,  1,  2,  7. 
Pea  Dia,  the  goddess  sacrificed  to  by  the 

Fratres  Arvales,  42 ;  temple  of,  exca- 
vated in  1868,  42,  152. 
Decebalus,    king    of    the    Dacians,    his 

buried  treasure,  291. 
Decenniad  paludes,  51. 
Decima,  goddess,  69. 
Delille,   discovers  the  libel   against  the 

senator  Flavianus,  163. 
Destruction  of  Roman  monuments  in  the 

Middle  Ages,  154,  276,  284,  289. 
Deverra,  goddess,  69. 
Disetse  Mammeianse,  108. 
Diana,  69. 
Didymos,  185. 
Didius  Julianas,  140. 
Diocles,  a  jockey,  215. 
Diocletian,  184. 
Dion  Cassius,  quoted,  54,  219. 
Dionysius,  bookbinder,  180. 
Dionysius,    dishonest   servant  of  Cicero, 

181. 
Dionysius   of  Halicarnassus,  on  the   site 

of  Alba  Longa,  31 ;  quoted,  40,  54. 
Dioscuri.     See  Castor  and  Pollux. 
Diribitorium,  100. 
Discoveries,    recent,    of    works    of    art, 

284-309  ;  in  building  the  new  quarters, 

1872-1885,  305. 
Disfiguration  of  statues,  the  work  of  the 

Romans  of  the  decadence,  19. 


INDEX. 


317 


Dispersion  of  inscribed  marbles,  151. 

Doliola,  148. 

Uomii  ian,  62 ;  rebuilds  the   Domus  Au- 

gustana,  108 ;  tries  and  puts  to  death  j 

one  of  the  Vestals,  14(3 ;  increases  the 

factions  of  the  circus,  213. 
Domitian,  colossal   head   of,  21 ;   forum 

of,  85 ;  villa  of,  279. 
Domna,  Julia,  159 ;    medallion   of,    137 

(cut). 

Domus  Aurea  of  Nero,  124. 
Domus  Gelotiana,  119  (cut). 
Domus  Tiberiana,  108. 
Donatello,  18. 
Door-fastenings,  208. 
Door-keepers,  208. 
Doria-Pamphili  villa,  225. 
Dorus,  publisher  for  Seneca,  183. 
Drainage  of  country  houses,  269. 
Drains,  53  ;  defects  of,  56. 
Dressel,   Heinrich,  on  the  origin  of  the 

Monte  Testaccio,  253. 
Dyer,    Thomas,    on    the   destruction    of 

bronzes,  288;  quoted,  154. 

Earthenware   pottery,  its  use  obligatory 

in  sacrifices,  43 ;  Numa's  cup,  44. 
Eastern  sects  in   Rome,   in  the    fourth 

century,  165. 

Egypt,  roses  imported  from,  273. 
Einsiedlen,  Anonymus  of,  152,  190. 
Elephantini  libri,  184. 
Engraved  stones,  passion  for,  in  the  Re- 
naissance, 16. 
Epaphroditus  of  Chaeronaea,  secretary  of 

Nero,  181. 

Equites  singulares,  206. 
Esquiline  hill,  72  ;  its  sanitary  condition, 

52  ;  public  cemetery  on,  64,  130. 
Esquilinum  forum,  152. 
Etna,  Mt. ,  the  Torre  del  Filosof  o,  275. 
Etruscan  origin  of  Rome  disputed,   26 ; 

pottery  found  on  the  Alban  hills,  31. 
Etruscns,  Valerius,  governor  of  Numidia, 

61. 
Eugenius,    Emperor,    favors    the    pagan 

party,  173. 
Engeria,  goddess,  69. 
Eugippius,  199. 
Euprepes,  a  jockey,  216. 
Europa,  portico  of,  96,  98. 
Evander  the  Arcadian,  262. 
Evangeliaria  in  the  Cambridge  and  the 

Bodleian  libraries.  200. 
Evil  Eye,  altar  to,  52. 
Excubitoria,  for  the  police,  224 ;  of  the 

seventh  battalion,  229. 
Ex-votos   discovered   in    1885   under  the  \ 

left  embankment  of  the  Tiber,  70. 

Fabius   Maximus  Allobrogicus,  arch  of,   | 
80,  155. 


Fabretti  on  the  Trajan  column,  291. 

Fabrician  bridge,  ex-votos  discovered 
near,  70. 

Factions  of  the  circus,  213 ;  public  tu- 
mults caused  by,  214. 

Faith-cure,  68. 

Familia  publica,  221. 

Farmacopolae,  71. 

Farnese,  Giulia,  statue  of,  10. 

Farnese  palace,  157. 

Fasti  Consulares,  155. 

Fasti  Triumphales,  155. 

Faun  Lupercus,  shrine  dedicated  to,  35. 

Faustulus,  tutor  of  Romulus,  81. 

Fea,  on  the  destruction  of  bronzes,  288. 

Feciales,  46. 

Felix,  Mi n in- ins.  187. 

Felix  Bulla,  brigand  chief,  211. 

Festus,  L.  Paquedius,  engineer,  62. 

Fever,  temples  of,  52. 

Ficana,  51. 

Fieu.s  Ruminalis,  81. 

Fidenae,  fall  of  a  temporary  amphitheatre 
at,  217. 

Filelfo  patronized  by  Paul  II.,  12. 

Filosofo,  Torre  del,  275. 

Fiuanze,  Palazzo  delle,  144. 

Fiorano,  266. 

Fiorelli,  Gius.,  on  door-fastenings,  208. 

Fire  department,  206. 

Firemen,  organization  of  the  service,  221 ; 
the  service  reformed  by  Augustus,  222 ; 
buckets  carried  by,  224. 

Fires,  frequency  of ,  in  ancient  Rome,  218; 
described  by  Livy,  219  ;  liberal  contri- 
butions made  to  the  sufferers  by,  220 ; 
punishment  of  the  culprit,  when  caused 
by  negligence,  222  ;  inscription  relating 
to  this  punishment,  226. 

Firmius,  M.,  adjutant-general  of  police, 
228. 

Fiscale,  Torre,  277  (cut). 

Fish  of  the  Tiber,  233. 

Fish-market,  83. 

Fishmongers  in  the  Forum,  82. 

Fiumicino,  235. 

Flamen  Dialis  required  to  use  bronze  in- 
struments exclusively,  40. 

Flaminia  via,  268,  272. 

Flavia  Publicia,  Vestal,  139 ;  statue  of, 
141  (cut). 

Flavian  amphitheatre.     See  Colosseum. 

Flavian  palace,  ruins  of,  124  (heliotype), 
125. 

Flavianus,  Virius  Nicomachus,  senator, 
163,  168,  173  ;  death,  175. 

Flint  implements  found  in  Rome,  44. 

Floralia,  169 ;  celebrated  by  Flavianus 
and  his  partisans,  174. 

Florence,  flourishing  condition  of  the  arts 
in,  18. 

Flowers,  273. 


318 


INDEX. 


Flumentana  gate,  38. 

Fluonia,  goddess,  69. 

Foglia.  Giov.,  treasury  contractor,  158. 

Fontanelles  library,  199. 

Forenses,  82. 

Fornix  Fabianus,  80. 

Forum  Romanum  Magnum,  volcanic  ac- 
tivity of  the  district,  50 ;  altar  to  Cloa- 
cina,  52  ;  early  condition,  75  ;  improve- 
ments under  the  kings,  76  ;  appearance 
toward  the  end  of  the  Republic,  77 ; 
statues  in,  81 ;  trees  in,  81 ;  destruc- 
tion of  its  buildings  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, 154 ;  its  buildings  destroyed  by 
fire,  219. 

Forums,  74-89 ;  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
18  (cut)  ;  looking  west,  74  (heliotype ) ; 
looking  east,  82  (heliotype)  ;  of  Au- 
gustus, 84  (cut) ;  Boarium,  22,  56,  219 ; 
Esquilinum,  152  ;  Martis,  84 ;  of  Nerva, 
or  Domitian,  85  ;  Olitorium,  94 ;  Pacis, 
85,  184 ;  Piscatorium,  83  ;  Trajanum, 
85,  88  (cut),  184;  of  Vespasian,  85. 

Forza  (or  Forzetta)  Oliviero,  numisma- 
tist, 17. 

Foundation  of  a  town,  its  limits  traced  by 
a  bronze  plough,  40. 

Fountains,  the  Meta  sudans,  125  ;  in  the 
Paradise  of  S.  Peter's,  286 ;  basin  of, 
found  in  the  house  of  Cn.  Sergius  Cra- 
ter, 299  ;  in  the  gardens  on  the  Janicu- 
lum,  301. 

Francis,  Duke  of  Parma,  excavations  on 
the  Palatine,  128. 

Frangipani  family  built  the  Turris  Car- 
tularia,  205. 

Fratres,  Arvales.     See  Arvales  Fratres. 

Frattocchie,  Le,  farm,  153. 

Friedlander  quoted,  269. 

Frieze  on  the  temple  of  Apollo,  114  (cut). 

Frontinus,  Sextus  Julius,  quoted,  57. 

Frontispizio  di  Nerone,  301,  302  (cut). 

Fucino,  lake  of,  71. 

Fullo,  133. 

Fullonum  collegium,  223. 

Fundanus,  C.  Minicius,  sepulchre  of  his 
daughter,  281. 

Furf  o,  bronze  tablet  discovered  at,  41. 

Gabii,  64. 

Gades,  temple  of,  288. 

Gagliardi,  Gius.,  298. 

Galba,  Sulpicius,  warehouses  of,  248,  249 
(cut). 

Gallienus,  Emperor,  gardens  of,  103 ;  por- 
tico of,  97 ;  proposed  statute  on  the 
Esquiline,  97. 

Gallinaria  silva  infested  by  highwaymen, 
211. 

Gandolfo,  Castel,  27  (cut),  279. 

Gardens,  100-105 ;  extended  over  the 
public  cemeteries,  101 ;  cemeteries  dis- 


covered under  them,  102 ;  absence  of 
natural  beauty,  272  ;  lack  of  variety  of 
cultivated  plants,  272. 

Gardens  of  Acilius  Glabrio,  100 ;  of  the 
Anician  family,  100 ;  of  Gallienus,  103  ; 
of  Julius  Caesar,  103 ;  of  Lollia  Pau- 
lina, 104;  of  Lucullus,  100;  of  Mae- 
cenas, 67,  272 ;  of  the  Minician  family, 
103 ;  of  Sallust,  101  (cut),  103  (cut), 
158. 

Garibaldi,  Ponte,  258,  307. 

Gates.    See  Porta. 

Gates  of  a  town  named  from  the  place  to 
which  they  lead,  38. 

Gauls,  flight  from  Delphos,  bas-relief, 
114;  destroy  Rome  in  364  A.  u.  c., 
218. 

Gellius,  Aulus,  quoted,  182,  185. 

Gelotius,  house  of,  118  (cut) ;  becomes  a 
training-school  for  court  pages,  121. 

Gems,  20 ;  passion  for,  in  the  Renaissance, 
16  ;  in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  115. 

Genseric,  158 ;  plunders  Rome,  291. 

Germanicus,  house  of,  109  (cut),  119. 

Gesta  martyrum,  187. 

Ghetto,  or  Jewish  quarter,  69,  94,  153. 

Ghiberti,  Lorenzo,  18. 

Gibbon  on  the  destruction  of  bronzes, 
288. 

Giocondo,  Giov.,  166. 

Giovanni  e  Paolo  (SS.),  Salita  dei,  190. 

Giovio,  Paolo,  on  the  fish  of  the  Tiber, 
233 

Giubileo,  Castel,  217. 

Giudea,  Piazza,  157. 

Glabrio,  Acilius,  gardens  of,  100. 

Goito,  Via,  145. 

Golden  House  of  Nero,  124. 

Gordianus,  portico  of,  97. 

Goths  and  Vandals,  devastation  caused 
by,  277. 

Gracchus  prefect  of  Rome  in  377,  168. 

Grsecostasis,  77. 

Graffiti,  importance  of,  120 ;  in  the 
house  of  Gelotius,  120 ;  donkey  turn- 
ing a  mill,  121 ;  caricature  of  Christ, 
122  ;  in  police  barracks,  230  ;  relating 
to  the  visit  of  Constans  II.  to  Rome, 
295. 

Grain  ships,  238. 

Grain  supply  for  Rome,  241,  249. 

Grain  trade,  244. 

Gratianus,  Emperor,  308 ;  abolishes  the 
privileges  of  pagan  worship,  172,  289. 

Greek  language  and  literature,  study  of, 
fashionable  in  the  fifteenth  century,  8. 

Greenhouses,  273. 

Gregory  the  Great,  Pope,  200 ;  rescues 
Trajan's  soul  from  damnation,  4; 
church  and  house  of,  197  (cut) ;  en- 
larges the  Christian  university  on  the 
Ccelian,  198. 


INDEX. 


319 


Guglielmi,  Marchese,  buys  the  island  at 

the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  235. 
Guidi  excavations,  93. 
Guiscard,  Robert,  288. 
Gutta  Calpurnianus,  P.  .Kl  ins,  champion 

charioteer,  215. 

Hadrian,  245  ;  regulated  the  opening  of 
the  baths,  91,  92. 

Hadrian,  mausoleum  of,  157,  286 ;  as- 
saulted and  injured  in  537  A.  D.,  293 ; 
villa  of,  263  (cut) ;  plan,  271  (cut). 

Hair-dressing,  specimens  of,  in  portico  of 
Marcius  Philippus,  100. 

Health,  temple  of,  69. 

Heating  of  houses,  78,  269. 

Helagabalus,  91,  108,  126;  brought  to- 
gether the  most  sacred  relics  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  127 ;  violates  the 
Atrium  Vest*,  148. 

Henzen,  W.,  excavates  the  temple  of  the 
Dea  Dia,  42  ;  and  the  banqueting  hall 
of  the  Arvales  Fratres,  153 ;  on  an  ex- 
cu  bit  or  in  m  of  the  police,  230. 

Heraclius,  Emperor,  294. 

Hercules,  statues  of,  in  gilt  bronze,  found 
in  the  Forum  Boarium,  22 ;  marble 
statue  by  Lysippus,  111  ;  the  Farnese 
Hercules,  153 ;  the  colossal  Mastai 
Hercules,  287,  288  (cut),  290,  297. 

Hercules,  temple  of,  95 ;  other  temples, 
287. 

Hercules  Invictus,  images  of,  174. 

Hermaphrodite,  statue  of,  18. 

Herodianus  quoted,  147. 

Hippocrates,  spurious  editions  of,  183. 

Hippolytus,  S.,  statue  of,  196. 

Hispalis,  187 ;  library  at,  194. 

Hoffman,  Baron  R.  von,  his  villa,  227. 

Holstenius,  Lucas,  on  the  barracks  of  the 
first  battalion  of  police,  224. 

Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  manuscript 
of,  185. 

Honorius  I.,  Pope,  294. 

Honorius  III.,  Pope,  204,  286. 

Horace,  satires,  163 ;  his  booksellers,  183  ; 
quoted,  67. 

Horatius  Codes,  41 ;  statue  of,  81. 

Horkel  quoted,  163. 

Hormisdas,  Persian  prince,  89. 

Horrea  Galbana,  248,  249  (cut). 

Horses,  compulsory  seizure  of,  139  ; 
names  and  popularity  of  the  horses 
of  the  circus,  215 ;  Numidian  ponies, 
265. 

Hortalus,  M.,  113. 

Hortensius,  house  of,  106 ;  medallion  of, 
113. 

Hospitals  unknown  before  the  third  cen- 
tury, 68. 

House,  private,  excavated  under  the  Via 
dello  Statute,  193. 


Household   service,   extreme   subdivision 

of,  131. 
Houses,  private,  how  the  names  of  their 

owners  are  determined  in  Rome,  299. 
Humanists,  8. 
Hut-urns,  discovered  in  the  Pascolare  di 

Castello,  29  (cut) ;  represent  the  shape 

of  the  temple  of  Vesta,  136. 
Hydraulic  engineering  of  Claudius,  239. 
Hyginus,  C.  Julius,  librarian,  184. 

Iced  water,  use  of,  discussed  in  a  company 
in  Tibur,  185. 

Illustrations  in  manuscripts,  202. 

Imperial  household,  organization  of,  128. 

Innocent  XII.,  Pope,  157. 

Inscriptions,  first  collection  of,  made  by 
Cola  di  Rienzo.  7 ;  care  necessary  in 
establishing  conclusions  from,  151 ;  in 
the  Corpus  Inscr.  Lat.,  164.  —  Lex  Re- 
gia,  6 ;  in  the  catacombs,  relating  to  the 
Roman  Academy,  10;  law  for  the 
building  and  dedication  of  a  shrine  to 
Jupiter,  found  at  Furfo,  41 ;  relating 
to  a  tunnel  near  Saldae,  61  ;  police  reg- 
ulations relating  to  the  disposition  of 
refuse,  66;  ex-voto  in  the  temple  of 
^Esculapius,  70  ;  prohibiting  promiscu- 
ous bathing,  92  ;  order  of  the  day  at  a 
public  bath,  93 ;  in  the  house  of  Gelo- 
tius,  120;  begging  passers-by  not  to 
scratch  the  walls,  120 ;  relating  to  the 
horse  of  a  Vestal,  139  ;  shrine  at  the 
corner  of  the  street  of  Vesta,  150 ;  in 
the  church  of  S.  Maria  in  Trastevere, 
152 ;  the  pedestal  of  a  statue  of  Ctelia 
Concordia,  169 ;  on  the  Archivum  of 
Pope  Damasus,  188  ;  in  library  of  Pope 
Agapetus,  190;  on  book -cases,  194;  on 
a  pedestal  dedicated  to  Crescens,  a 
jockey,  215  (cut) ;  authorizing  punish- 
ment to  be  inflicted  in  the  case  of  fires 
caused  by  negligence,  226  ;  roll  of  the 
fifth  battalion  of  police,  228 ;  on  a  bas- 
relief  of  a  sturgeon,  233  ;  on  a  quay  of 
the  Tiber,  251  ;  survey  of  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  257;  on  the  rebuilding  of 
the  Ponte  Sisto,  257 ;  on  water-pipes, 
299;  on  the  bronze  athlete  discovered 
in  1885,  304.  See  also  Graffiti. 

Insteia  or  Insteiana  via,  50. 

Intercidona,  goddess,  69. 

Iron,  its  use  not  allowed  in  early  Roman 
religious  rites,  39 ;  its  touch  profaned 
a  temple  or  shrine,  41 ;  its  use  allowed 
by  special  law  in  building  a  shrine  of 
Jupiter  in  Furfo,  41 ;  not  used  in  con- 
structing or  repairing  the  Sublician 
bridge,  41. 

Isia,  169;  celebrated  by  Flavianus  and 
his  colleagues,  174. 

Isidorus,  S. ,  library  of,  194. 


320 


INDEX. 


Istrig  river,  291. 

Ivory,  bas-reliefs  in  the  temple  of  Apollo, 
114;  ceilings  in  the  Golden  House  of 
Nero,  124;  found  in  the  Horrea  Gal- 
bana,  250. 

Jani,  four-faced  porches,  82. 

Janiculum,  public  gardens  on,  157. 

Janitors,  208. 

Janus  Quadrif rons,  temple  of,  77,  295 ; 
hot  sulphur  springs  near,  50. 

Jerusalem,  spoils  of  the  temple  deposited 
in  the  forum  of  Vespasian,  85 ;  their 
ultimate  fate,  255,  290,  291. 

Jews  apply  for  a  permit  to  excavate  the 
bed  of  the  Tiber,  291. 

Jockeys,  fortunes  amassed  by,  214. 

John  (S.)  Calibitas,  hospital  of,  70. 

John  (S.)  Lateran,  church  of,  inscription 
on  a  bronze  tablet  set  in  an  altar,  6. 

Jonah,  statue  of,  156. 

Josephus  quoted,  117. 

Julia,  daughter  of  Augustus,  81. 

Julius  III.,  Pope,  villa  of,  157. 

Juno  Lucina,  69. 

Jupiter,  shrine  of,  in  Furfo,  41 ;  statues 
of,  set  up  in  the  Alpine  passes,  174. 

Jupiter  Capitolinus,  temple  of,  140,  157, 
158,  292 ;  library  connected  with  the 
temple  of,  186. 

Jupiter  Dolichenus,  temple  of,  226. 

Justus,  L.  Speratius,  colonel  of  fifth  bat- 
talion of  police,  228. 

Juturna,  spring  of,  76,  80. 

Juvenal,  quoted,  44,  211,  214,  220 ;  scho- 
liast of,  quoted,  112. 

Kallimachos,  185. 

Kircherian  museum,  47,  122. 

Kissing,  the  customary  salutation  under 
Augustus  and  later,  270 ;  Tiberius  is- 
sues a  decree  against,  271. 

Knife,  pocket,  of  Euprepes,  216  (cut). 

Labarum  of  Constantino,  174. 

Labricana  via,  226. 

Lacour-Gayet,  287. 

Laetus,  Pomponius.     See  Leto. 

Lambaese,  61. 

Lampridius  quoted,  148. 

Lamps  in  the  library  of  Cassiodorius, 
198. 

Land,  price  of,  84. 

Lanipedius,  131. 

Lanipenda,  133. 

Lanterns,  207. 

Lararium  discovered  in  the  Via  dello 
Statute,  191  (cut). 

Lateran  museum,  21,  285. 

Lateran  palace,  documents  of  the  Church 
gathered  here,  189 ;  libraries  and  ar- 
chives collected  in,  203. 


Laternarius,  207. 

Latifundia,  266,  276. 

Latina  via,  264,  277. 

Laurentian  library  at  Florence,  197,  202. 

Lautumiaj,  75,  219. 

Lavinium,  51. 

Lectica,  or  sedan-chair,  139,  267. 

Leo  X.,  Pope,  42. 

Leo  XIII.,  Pope,  204. 

Lepidus,  M.,  242. 

Leto,  Pomponio,  founder  of  the  Roman 
Academy,  10. 

Lex  Regia,  6,  21. 

Liberalis,  P.  ^Elius,  243. 

Libraries,  178-205  ;  trash  excluded  from, 
112;  authorities  on,  178;  recent  dis- 
coveries relating  to,  178  ;  Vitruvius  on 
their  construction,  181 ;  the  rooms  small, 
181,  and  indicated,  182  ;  private  libra- 
ries, 182 ;  first  public  library,  184 ; 
state  libraries,  184 ;  number  of  vol- 
umes in,  185  ;  books  lent  from,  185  ; 
destruction  of,  186  ;  Christian  libraries 
established,  186 ;  material  and  organ- 
ization of  Christian  libraries,  190 ;  fol- 
low the  arrangement  of  classic  mod- 
els. 195  ;  portraits  of  authors  used  for 
decoration,  191,  193,  196 ;  private  li- 
brary discovered  under  the  Via  dello 
Statute,  193 ;  statues  of  authors  in, 
196. 

Libraries,  of  L.  ./Emilius  Panlus,  179 ; 
of  Agapetus,  Pope,  190 ;  of  Apellikon, 
179  ;  of  Aristotle,  179 ;  in  Alexandria, 
183,  185;  of  C.  Asinius  Pollio,  196; 
of  Cassiodorius,  198 ;  of  the  convent 
of  S.  Gregorio,  198;  of  S.  Isidorus,  at 
Hispalis,  194 ;  of  Lucullus,  180;  Octa- 
viae,  184, 186  ;  Palatina  Apollinis,  184, 
186;  of  Pergamon,  179,  185;  of  T. 
Pomponius  Atticus,  180 ;  of  Q.  Serenus 
Sammonicus,  182 ;  of  Sulla,  179,  180 ; 
Tiberiana,  184,  186 ;  of  Trajan,  184 ; 
Ulpia,  87 ;  Vatican,  195  (cut) ;  of  Ves- 
pasian, 184. 

Librarii,  183. 

Liello,  Pietro  di,  quoted,  286. 

Ligorio,  Casino  del,  279  (cut). 

Literary  academies  and  societies  de- 
scribed by  Pliny,  113. 

Litters,  270. 

Livia,  Empress,  columbaria  of  her  house- 
hold discovered  in  1725,  130 ;  market 
of,  152 ;  villa  of,  272. 

Livius,  M.,  censor,  127. 

Livy,  references  to  volcanic  action,  32 ; 
quoted,  32,  33,  46,  48,  50,  51,  54,  68, 
69,  145,  218. 

Locks  and  keys,  208. 

Lollia  Paulina,  her  life,  104 ;  her  gar- 
dens discovered  on  the  Esquiline,  104 

Lollius,  Marcus,  104. 


INDEX. 


321 


Longfellow,  H.  W.,  translation  of  the 
Divine  Comedy,  quoted,  1,  3. 

Lorenzetto,  156. 

Lorenzo  (S.),  basilica  of,  188 ;  Porta,  293. 

Lotus  capillata,  137. 

Lucretius  quoted,  39. 

Lucullus,  L,  242 ;  gardens  of,  100 ;  li- 
brary of,  180. 

Ludi  palatini,  118. 

Lugari  brothers,  excavations  by,  268. 

Lupercal,  the  oldest  sanctuary  of  Rome, 
35. 

Lupercalia,  shows  that  the  founders  of 
Rome  were  shepherds,  36 ;  traces  of 
the  festival  still  to  be  found  in  the 
fifth  century,  36;  the  meal  used  at, 
161. 

Lupus,  a  fish,  233. 

Lustrum,  174. 

Lyons,  60. 

Lysias,  sculptor,  110. 

Lysippus,  18,  111,  296. 

Macellum  Liviae,  152. 

Macer,  Pompeius,  director  of  public  li- 
braries, 184. 

Maceriae,  269. 

Macrobius  quoted,  41. 

Madonna  della  Febbre,  church  of,  53. 

Madonna  della  Pieta,  church  of,  4. 

Maecenas,  101 ;  gardens  of,  67,  272. 

Maggiore,  Porta,  102. 

Magliana,  La,  farm,  42. 

Maiano,  Galliano  da.  16. 

Mail  coaches,  244. 

Majorianus,  Emperor,  293. 

Mala  Fortuna,  altar  to,  52. 

Malaria,  history  of,  in  Rome,  49 ;  ap- 
peared after  the  cessation  of  volcanic 
activity,  51  ;  its  prevalence  in  the  first 
century  of  Rome  proved  by  the  altars 
to  the  fever,  52 ;  diminished  by  the 
construction  of  important  public  works, 
53. 

Mamaea,  Julia,  108. 

Mamertine  Prison,  75. 

Mamurra,  242. 

Manuscripts,  exchange  and  circulation  of, 
200. 

Maps  of  the  Empire,  98. 

Marble,  importation  of,  241  (cut)  ;  quay 
at  which  it  was  landed,  250  (cut). 

Marcella,  Minicia,  her  sepulchre,  281. 

Marcella,  Statoria,  281. 

Marcello  (S.),  convent  of,  225. 

Marcellus,  115;  theatre  of,  309. 

Marchi,  Padre,  numismatist,  47. 

Marco  (S.),  palazzo  di,  the  collection  of 
Paul  II.,  14  ;  its  architecture,  16. 

Marco  (S.),  piazza  di,  12. 

Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus.      See  Anto- 


*  Margaritaria,  Portions,  150. 
[  Margaritarii,  131. 

Maria  (S.)  dell'  Anima,  church  of,  157. 
Maria  (S.)  in  Campitelli,  church  of,  its 

Madonna  of  Florentine  mosaic,  13. 
Maria  (S.)  in  Cosmedin,  church  of,  the 

Bocca  della  Verita,  56. 
Maria  (S.)  Maggiore,  church  of,  157  ;  Bor- 

ghese  Chapel,  15. 

Maria  (S.)  del  Popolo,  church  of,  156. 
Maria  (S.)  in  Trastevere,  church  of,  151. 
Marignoli  palace,  166. 
Marino,  264 ;  Parco  Colonna,  30. 
Mario,  Monte,  100,  261,  281. 
Market,  in  the  Forum,  75,  80 ;  of  Livia, 

152. 
Mars,  temple  of,  84  ;  Mars  Ultor,  remains 

of  temple  of,  84  (cut). 
Marsyas,  statue  of,  81. 
Martial,  his  publishers,  183  ;  quoted,  72, 

98, 182,  220. 
Martin  I.,  Pope,  200. 
Martino  (S.)  ai  Monti,  church  of,  192. 
Massimo  palace,  104. 
Matches,  269. 
Matriculae  pauperum,  187. 
Mattei  villa,  227  (cut). 
Mavortius  Basilius  Agorius,  Vettius,  con- 
sul, 163. 

Maximae  portions,  96. 
Maximus,  Petronius,  Emperor,  291. 
Maximus,  Quintilius,  his  villas,  264. 
Maximus,  Valerius,  quoted,  44,  50,  221. 
Medallions,   in  the  reading-room  of  the 

library  of    Augustus,    113;    of    Julia 

Domna,  137  (cut)  ;  of  authors,   used  in 

decoration  of  .libraries,  191. 
Medical  attendance,    67 ;    organized    by 

Nero,  72  ;  by  Antoninus  Pius,  73. 
Medicean  library,  Florence,  7. 
j  Medici  villa,  100,  157,  261. 
I  Medici,  Cosimo  de',  18,  111. 
Medici,  Giovanni  de',  19. 
Medici,  Lorenzo  de',  20. 
Medicinaa,  71. 
Medicine,  schools  of,  72. 
Medicus  ocularius,  133. 
!  Mefitis,  altar  to,  52. 
Megalesia,  169  ;   celebrated  by  Flavianus 

and  his  partisans,  174. 
Melissus,  C.,  librarian,  184. 
Menophilus,  bookbinder,  180. 
Mensurius,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  187. 
Merulana,  Via,  169. 
Mesa,  Torre  di,  301,  302  (cut). 
Messalina,  140. 
Messalina,  Statilia,  129. 
MessaUa,  M.  Valerius,  82,  242. 
;  Meta  sudans,  fountain,  125. 
MeteUus  Macedonicus,  Q.,  242,  296. 
Meteoric  stone,  sacred,  brought  from  Pes- 

sinus,   126;  removed  by  Helagabalus, 


322 


INDEX. 


1  27 ;  probably  discovered  by  Bianchini 
in  1730,  128. 

Metronia  porta,  51. 

Metroon,  166. 

Michael  Angelo,  10,  156,  235. 

Michele  (S.),  tower  of,  235. 

Middleton,  J.  Henry,  his  theory  of  the 
Etruscan  origin  of  Rome  disputed,  26. 

Milk  used  for  libations  by  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Rome,  37. 

Mineral  springs,  at  Vicarello,  46  ;  on  the 
Alban  hills,  50. 

Minerva,  temple  of,  15 ;  destroyed  by 
Paul  V.,  15. 

Minerva  Medica,  temple  of,  102. 

Minician  gardens,  103. 

Minicii  family  crypt,  281. 

Minucia,  portico  of,  94. 

Minucia,  a  Vestal,  143. 

Misenum,  240. 

Missione,  Casa  della,  157. 

Mithrseum  Campense,  166. 

Mithras,  grotto  of,  165 ;  represented  in  a 
relief,  166 ;  worship  of,  in  Rome,  167 ; 
degrees  conferred,  168 ;  represented  as 
the  Sun,  168  (cut) ;  crypt  of,  discovered 
in  the  Via  dello  Statute,  192  (cut). 

Mithras  Cautes,  167  (cut). 

Mithras  Tauroktonos,  marble  group,  193 
(cut). 

Mola  salsa,  kind  of  cake,  161. 

Money  lenders  in  the  Forum,  80. 

Montanara,  piazza  di,  69. 

Monte  Affliano,  tunnel  through,  62 ;  Co- 
ronaro,  231 ;  Crescenzio,  28 ;  Cucco, 
28;  Mario,  100,  261,  281;  Oliviero, 
268;  Pila,  31. 

Monte  Cassino,  library  of,  13. 

Monte  Testaccio,  248,  250  (cut);  its 
composition,  251  ;  De  Rossi's  theory, 
251,  253;  Dressel's  theory,  253;  he 
traces  its  development,  254. 

Mooring  rings  on  the  Tiber,  247  (cut). 

Moricone,  Sabina,  154. 

Mosaic  in  the  Circus  Maximus,  214  (cut). 

Mosaic  from  Pompeii,  165  (cut) :  por- 
traits, in  libraries,  196. 

Mugonia,  gate  on  the  Palatine,  37. 

Miintz,  Eugene,  on  the  fate  of  the  treas- 
ures of  Paul  II.,  14 ;  quoted,  158. 

Musa,  Antonius,  freedman  of  Augustus, 
72. 

Museum,  the  earliest,  in  Rome,  21. 

Muti,  G.  B. ,  discovers  ancient  bas-reliefs 
under  the  foundation  of  his  palace, 
225. 

Muti-Savorelli  palace,  224. 

Naples,  view  of,  262. 

Naples,  national  library,  7 ;  national  mu- 
seum, 153. 
Nardini,  on  a  colossal  bronze  head,  112. 


Narducci,  Enr.,  his  bibliography  of  the 
Tiber,  231. 

National  Dramatic  Society,  bronzes  found 
in  building  their  theatre,  297. 

Naves  speculatorise,  245 ;  tabellurhe, 
245 ;  vagse,  245. 

Navius,  Atta,  statue  of,  81. 

Neleus  owns  the  library  of  Aristotle,  179. 

Neptune,  temple  of,  157. 

Nero,  Emperor,  59,  246 ;  organizes  the 
medical  service,  72 ;  enlarges  the  im- 
perial palace,  108;  burns  Rome  and 
rebuilds  it,  122 ;  invites  the  Vestals  to 
the  athletic  contests,  143  ;  proposes  to 
make  Rome  a  sea-port,  239. 

Nero,  colossal  statue  of,  113  ;  his  Domus 
Aurea,  124;  his  villa  in  the  Apen- 
nines, 274. 

Nerva,  244 ;  forum  of,  85. 

Niccoli,  Niccolo,  19;  a  collector  of  an- 
tiques, 20. 

Nicomedia,  221. 

Niobe  group,  69  ;  bas-relief,  114. 

Nomentana  via,  13,  153,  267. 

Nona,  goddess,  69. 

Nonius  Datus,  hydraulic  engineer,  61. 

Nova  via,  150. 

Numa  Pompilius,  68,  76 ;  his  simpuvium, 
or  drinking-cup,  44. 

Numidian  ponies,  265. 

Nutrices,  132. 

Nymphsea,  264,  293  ;  of  Claudius  Catul- 
lus, 226;  of  Hadrian's  villa,  263 
(cut). 

Obelisk,  of  Augustus,  157 ;  Caligula's, 
13;  Vatican,  ship  which  brought  it 
from  Egypt,  239. 

Obsequens,  Julius,  quoted,  50. 

Octavia,  library  of,  184,  186 ;  portico  of, 
94,  95  (cut),  96  (cut). 

Olitorium  forum,  94. 

Oliviero,  Monte,  268. 

Oracular  statues,  287. 

Orbona,  shrine  of,  69. 

Ornatrix,  132. 

Ostia,  marble  altar  found  at,  34  (cut) ; 
water-supply,  64 ;  pocket-knife  discov- 
ered at,  216 ;  founded  by  Ancus  Mar- 
cius,  234;  advance  of  the  coast  line 
from  deposits  by  the  Tiber,  235 ;  com- 
merce of,  235 ;  best  season  for  ap- 
proaching, 237 ;  shallowness  of  the 
water,  238 ;  a  harbor  made  by  Clau- 
dius, 238,  239  (cut),  243 ;  improved  by 
Trajan,  240,  245 ;  representations  of 
the  Claudian  harbor  preserved,  248 
(cut). 

Ostiaria,  133. 

Ostiarius,  92,  208. 

Otho,  Emperor,  125. 

Ovid  quoted,  40,  75. 


INDEX. 


323 


Paalstabs,  found  in  Rome,  44  ;  found  in 
1874  under  the  Monte  della  Giustizia, 
45  ;  found  in  1852  in  the  springs  of  Vi- 
carello,  47. 

Pacis,  forum,  85,  184. 

Paedagogium  ad  caput  Af  ricse,  121. 

Paestum,  roses  cultivated  at,  273. 

Paganism,  iu  science  and  fine  art  under 
tin-  Renaissance,  9 ;  last  struggles  of, 
•with  Christianity,  162,  172;  its  pri- 
vileges abolished  and  its  property  con- 
fiscated in  383,  172;  its  sacrifices 
prohibited  in  391,  173 ;  favored  by 
Eugenius,  173  ;  outburst  of  fanaticism, 
174 ;  the  pagan  party  defeated  by 
Theodosius  II.  in  394,  175. 

Palace  of  the  Caesars,  106-133 ;  enlarged 
by  successive  emperors,  108;  section 
built  by  Augustus  unchanged,  109; 
described,  110;  summary  of  its  con- 
tents, 116  ;  Caligula's  additions,  116, 
117  (cut),  119 ;  additions  by  Nero,  122 ; 
additions  by  Vespasian,  125  ;  additions 
by  Septimius  Severus,  126 ;  later  re- 
storations, 126;  organization  of  the 
household,  128 ;  plundered  by  Gense- 
ric,  292. 

Palaces,  Balestra,  224;  Barberini,  69; 
Brancaccio,  169 ;  della  Cancelleria, 
23,  190;  dei  Conservatori,  21,  112, 
233,  286.  296;  Farnese,  157;  Mari- 
gnoli,  166 ;  di  S.  Marco,  or  di  Venezia, 
14,  16;  Massimo,  104;  Ministero  delle 
Finanze,  144;  Muti-Savorelli,  224; 
Piero  della  Valle,  156 ;  Pio  di  Carpi, 
286. 

Palaeography,  specimens  of,  in  the  library 
of  Augustus,  113. 

Palatine  bill,  51 ;  the  first  of  the  hills 
of  Rome  to  be  settled,  36;  derivation 
of  the  name,  37 ;  became  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Emperors,  106. 

Palazzola,  supposed  site  of  Alba  Longa, 
30, 31. 

Pales,  the  goddess  of  shepherds,  37. 

Paliliae,  or  feast  of  Pales,  still  celebrated 
on  April  21,  37. 

Palladium,  guarded  by  the  Vestals,  147, 
175;  stolen  by  Helagabalus,  148. 

Pallini,  Pietro,  10. 

Palme,  Vicolo  delle,  296. 

Palmyra,  conquest  of,  300. 

Pamphili,  villa,  261. 

Pantheon,  157,  294 ;  details  of,  24  (cut) ; 
Petrarch's  view  of,  4 ;  burned,  219. 

Paolo  (S. )  fuori  le  mura,  basilica  of,  83 ; 
church  of,  150. 

Papyrus,  specimen  of,  184  (cut). 

Pardalus,  ^milius,  141. 

Paris,  Bibliotheque  nationale,  catalogue 
of  cameos  dated  1295,  16  ;  Galerie 
Manfrin,  15. 


!  Parks,  100-105. 

|  Partula,  goddess,  69. 

Pascolare  di  Castello.    See  Castello. 

Passifilus  Paolinus,  Fabius,  176. 

Patarse,  59. 

Paul  II.,  Pope,  20 ;  tries  the  members  of 
the  Roman  Academy,  10;  promotes 
learning  and  the  study  of  archaeology, 
12 ;  his  mania  for  collecting,  13 ;  first 
took  the  name  of  Formosus  II.,  13  ;  his 
extravagance,  13;  his  museum,  14. 

Paul  III.,  Pope,  21,  58,  285. 

Paul  V.,  Pope,  15,  165. 

Paullina,  Fabia  Acouia,  169. 

Paulus,  L.  ^Emilius,  his  library,  179. 

Paulus,  M.  -<Emilius,  83. 

Peperino,  volcanic  stone,  28. 

Perac,  Stef  ano  du,  drawing  of  the  Torre 
di  Mesa,  302  (cut). 

Pergamon,  library  of,  185. 

Perseus    and  Andromeda,  bas-relief    of, 

225. 
{  Persius,  181. 

Perugino,  disbelief  of  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  10. 

Pessinus  in  Phrygia,  meteoric  stone  wor- 
shipped there,  126. 

Peter  (S.),  his  prison,  76 ;  church  of,  154, 
165 ;  the  sacristy,  153. 

Peter,  prefect  of  Rome,  285. 

Petorritum,  267. 

Petrarch,  presents  a  collection  of  coins  to 
Charles  IV.,  4;  knowledge  of  archaeol- 
ogy, 5. 

Petroni,  Ales.,  quoted,  57. 

Philae,  island  of,  papyrus  discovered  in, 
185. 

Philippe  le  Bel,  king  of  France,  16. 

Philippus,  Marcius,  portico  of,  95,  100. 

Philocalus,  Furius  Dionysins,  calligra- 
phus,  188. 

Philolaos,  182. 

Phocas,  column  erected  to,  293. 

Physicians,  71. 

Pia,  Porta,  100,  156. 

Piazza,  dei  SS.  Apostoli,  224  ;  Barberini, 
100 ;  Campidoglio,  21  ;  Campo  dei 
Fiori,  287 ;  Giudea,  157 ;  di  S.  Marco, 
12  ;  Montanara,  69 ;  del  Popolo,  157. 

Pietrasanta,  Giacomo  di,  16. 

Piety,  Arch  of,  3,  157. 

Pigna.  Giardino  della,  286. 

Pila,  Monte,  31. 

Pilate,  house  of  (so-called),  16  (cut). 

Pilentum,  139. 

Pincian  hill,  51,  100,  261. 

Pio  di  Carpi,  palace,  286. 

Platina,  Bart.,  Cardinal,  10. 

Plato,  182. 

Pliny,  the  elder,  quoted,  40,-  43,  44,  54, 
83,  104,  113,  114. 


324 


INDEX. 


Pliny,  the  younger,  his  Laurentine  villa, 
243 ;  quoted,  91,  113,  146,  221,  282. 

Plostrum,  139. 

Plutarch  quoted,  144,  245,  282. 

Pola,  Roman  cemetery  at,  mentioned  by 
Dante,  2. 

Police,  206-230 ;  regulations  frequently 
evaded,  213  ;  duty  as  firemen,  218  ;  or- 
ganization of,  221  ;  reorganized  by 
Augustus,  222  ;  duties  of  the  praef  ec- 
tus,  222  ;  privileges  conceded  to,  224 ; 
barracks,  224 ;  of  the  first  battalion, 
224 ;  second,  226  ;  third,  226  ;  fourth, 
226;  fifth,  227  (cut);  sixth  and  sev- 
enth, 229  ;  numerical  strength,  229  ; 
exc.ubitorium  of  the  seventh  battalion, 
229,  230  (cut). 

Politorium,  50. 

Pollio,  C.  Asinius,  built  the  first  public 
library  in  Rome,  184,  196. 

Pollio,  Domitius,  daughter  of,  136. 

Pompey's  theatre,  190  ;  his  villa,  280. 

Pons  Cestius,  358,  359  (cut) ;  Fabricius, 
70 ;  Sublicius,  40,  41  (cut). 

Ponte,  Garibaldi,  258,  307  ;  Sisto,  257. 

Pontelli,  Baccio,  16. 

Pontifex  Maximus,  care  of  the  Vestals, 
143. 

Pontine  district,  originally  healthy,  50, 
51 ;  infested  by  highwaymen,  211. 

Pouza,  island  of,  238. 

Ponzi,  Gius.,  on  the  remains  found  in  the 
Pascolare  di  Castello,  30. 

Popolo,  Piazza  del,  157. 

Porcia,  basilica,  79,  83. 

Porta,  Collina,  144 ;  Flumentana,  38  ; 
Maggiore,  102  :  Metronia,  51 ;  Mugo- 
nia,  37;  Pia,  100,  156;  Portese,  153, 
292  ;  Portuensis,  120 ;  Romana,  site  of, 
38  (cut) ;  Salaria,  100 ;  S.  Lorenzo, 
293;  S.  Sebastiano,  130;  Tiburtina, 
293. 

Porta,  Guglielmo  della,  statue  of  Giulia 
Farnese,  10. 

Portese,  Porta,  153,  292. 

Porticoes,  74,  94,  123 ;  general  plan  and 
purpose,  97 ;  Ad  Nationes.  95 ;  of  the 
Argonauts,  96,  98 ;  Bonus  Eventus,  96 ; 
of  Constantino,  96,  298 ;  Corinthian,  95  ; 
of  Europa,  96,  98 ;  of  Gallienus,  97 ;  of 
Gordianus,  97 ;  of  Marcins  Philippus, 
95,  100;  Margaritaria,  150;  Maximse, 
96  ;  Minucia,  94,  Octaviae,  94, 95  (cut), 
96  (cut);  Septa,  95,  99;  of  Severus 
Alexander,  97  ;  of  Vipsania,  95,  98. 

Porto,  plan  of  ruins  of,  244  (cut) ;  docks 
and  warehouses  of,  248. 

Porto  d'  Anzio,  252. 

Portuensis,  Porta,  120. 

Portus,  64. 

Porziano,  Castel,  243. 

Postal  service,  243 ;  extended  by  Augus- 


tus all  over  the  Empire,  244 ;  the  mar- 
itime  post,  245. 

Postvorta,  goddess,  69. 

Pozzuoli,  238,  245. 

Praef ectus  vehiculorum  (postmaster),  245. 

Praef  ectus  vigilum,  222. 

Praenestina  via,  268. 

Praetextata,  Calpurnia,  Vestal,  139. 

Praetextatus,  Vettius  Agorius,  devotion 
to  the  Vestals,  169 ;  his  house  exca- 
vated in  1591,  169 ;  statue  of,  170  (cut). 

Praetorian  guard,  206. 

Prata-porcia,  farm  of,  139. 

Prati  di  Testaccio,  248. 

Primigenia,  Vestal,  171. 

Priscilla,  catacombs  of,  175. 

Probus,  111. 

Procopius  quoted,  277,  290. 

Procurator  bibliothecarum  Augusti,  112. 

Propylaia  of  the  Imperial  Palace,  110. 

Prudentius  quoted,  45,  171. 

Psalterium  in  the  British  Museum,  200. 

Ptolemy  Euergetes  II.,  King,  obtains  cod- 
ices from  Athens,  183. 

Public  places  of  resort,  74-105. 

Publica  villa,  96. 

Publicia,  Flavia,  a  Vestal,  160. 

Punic  war,  second,  126. 

Puteal  Scribonianum,  82. 

Puticuli,  64. 

Pyrgi,  51. 

Pyrrhus,  statue  of,  85. 

Pythagoras,  statue  of,  81. 

Quadrivia,  268. 

Quasillarise,  133. 

Quay  at  which  marbles  were  landed,  250 

(cut). 

Quintilian,  his  publisher,  183. 
Quintilianus,  C.  Julius,  prefect  of  police, 

228. 
Quirinal    hill,    51  ;    originally  connected 

with   the  Capitoline  by  a  bridge,  86 ; 

bronzes  found  in  excavations,  297. 
Quirinalis,  Flamen,  house  of,  148. 

Raphael,  156. 

Ravenna,  church  of  S.  Apollinare  in 
Classe,  197. 

Refuse,  heaped  up  in  the  Esquiline  ceme- 
tery, 66 ;  decrees  concerning  its  dispo- 
sition, 66. 

Regesta  Pontificum,  189,  204. 

Regillus,  Lake,  battle  of,  80. 

Regulus,  Memmius,  104. 

Reiffersheid,  A.,  on  the  library  of  Cassic- 
dorius,  199. 

Renaissance,  7 ;  pagan  character  of,  9 ; 
illustrated  by  the  Roman  Academy,  10, 

Reservoirs,  60. 

Rhea.     See  Vesta. 

Rhea  Sylvia,  legend  of,  34. 


INDEX. 


325 


Rheda,  267,  270. 

Riario  della  Rovere,  family,  22 ;  Pietro, 
his  extravagance,  23 ;  Raphael,  Cardi- 
nal, 190. 

Ricimer,  293. 

Rienzi,  Roman  tribune,  founder  of  the 
modern  archaeological  school,  1  ;  inter- 
prets the  Lex  Regia  wrongly,  6 ;  house 
of  (so  called),  16,  17  (cut) ;  election  of, 
as  tribune,  285. 

Ristori  palace,  bronzes  found  under,  297. 

Roads  of  the  Campagna,  268.     See  Via. 

Roman  Academy,  its  pagan  tendencies,10. 

Roman  aristocracy  compared  with  the 
English,  265. 

Roman  topography,  caution  necessary  in 
drawing  conclusions  in  regard  to,  151. 

Rom  ana  gate,  38. 

Rome,  foundation  and  prehistoric  life  of, 
26  :  Etruscan  origin  disputed,  26 ;  cred- 
ibility of  its  early  history,  33  ;  founded 
by  colonists  from  Alba  Longa,  33  ;  who 
were  shepherds,  35 ;  origin  of  the  name, 
37 ;  date,  38 ;  state  of  the  ancient 
world,  38 ;  sanitary  conditions,  49-73 ; 
burned  by  Nero,  122  ;  rebuilt  accord- 
ing to  admirable  principles,  123;  the 
struggles  of  the  fourth  century,  162 ; 
not  lighted  at  night,  207 ;  burned  by 
the  Gauls,  364,  A.  u.  c.,  and  rebuilt 
irregularly,  218  ;  surrounded  by  villas, 
266 ;  character  of  the  suburbs,  266 ; 
destruction  of  ancient  monuments  in, 
276,  284,  289 ;  number  of  bronze  stat- 
ues in  the  sixth  century  A.  D.,  284 ; 
plundered  by  Alaric,  290  ;  by  Genseric, 
292 ;  by  Ricimer,  293  ;  by  Totila,  293 ; 
ref ortified  by  Belisarius  at  the  expense 
of  ancient  monuments,  293 ;  despoiled 
by  Constans  II.,  294  ;  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  6  (cut). 

Rome.  University  of,  reorganized  by  Paul 

II.,  12. 

Romulus,  not  purely  legendary,  34  ;  ori- 
gin of  the  name,  38. 
Romulus,  son  of  Maxentius,  temple  of, 

155. 

Ronconi  garden,  111. 
Roses,  excessive  demand  for,  273. 
Rossi,  Comm.  G.  B.  de,  discovers  inscrip- 
tions in  the  catacombs  relating  to  the 
Roman    Academy,    11  ;    discovers   the 
codex  of  Pietro  Sabino,  24 ;  on  the  li- 
braries of  the  Holy  See,  1 79 ;  discovers 
an  inscription  of  Pope  Damasus,  189 ; 
on  the  origin  of  the  Monte  Testaccio. 
251,  253  ;  on  the  Gothic  war,  278. 
Rufinus,  Julius,  prefect  of  Vigiles,  226. 
Rusticus,  Bishop  of  Narbonne,  195. 

Saba  (S.),  church  of,  226. 
Sabellico,  Marco  Ant.,  10. 


Sabino,  Pietro,  10,  166. 

Sabinus,  Cornelius,  conspirator  to  murder 

Caligula,  118. 

Sacomarii,  corporation  of,  34. 
Sacra  via,  82,  110,  150. 
Sacred  relics  preserved  by  the  Vestals, 

147. 

Sacro  Speco,  Benedictine  abbey,  60,  274. 
I  Salaria,  Porta,  100. 
S;ild;f •    or  Civitas  Salditana,  tunnel  near, 

61. 

Salita  dei  SS.  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  190. 
Sallust,  garden  of,  101   (cut),  103  (cut), 

158  ;  palace  of,  158. 

Sammonicus,  Q.  Serenus,  his  library,  182. 
Sanitary  conditions  of  Rome,  49-73. 
S.   Nicandro,    bronze    tablet    discovered 

near,  41. 

Sarcinatrices,  133. 
Sargetia,  river,  291. 
Saturn,  temple  of,  77. 
Saturnalia,  77. 
Scauri,  Clivus,  190. 
Scaurus,  M.  ..Kmilius.  242. 
Sceleratus  Campus,  145. 
Schools  on  the  Forum,  80. 
Scipio,  Cornelius,  81. 

Scopus.  114. 

Scrinia,  112. 

Sebastian,  (S.),  his  martyrdom,  125. 
j  Sebastiano  (S.),  Porta,  130. 
!  Secchi,  Aug.,  on  the  advance  of  the  coast 

at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  235. 
Secundus,  publisher  for  Martial,  183. 
Senio  Sancus,  shrine  of,  298. 
Senate,   meetings  in  the  reading-hall  of 

the  library  of  Apollo,  111. 
Senate-house.     See  Curia. 
Seneca,  his  publisher,  183;  quoted,  199. 
Senecio,  Caesernius,  captain  of  police,  228. 
Septa,  portico  of,  95,  99. 
Septimius  Severus,  restored  the  imperial 

buildings,  108  ;  additions  to  the  imperial 

palace,    126 ;    increase  of  brigandage 

under,  211. 

Septimius  Severus,  arch  of,  12. 
Septizonium,   108,  126  ;  in  the  sixteenth 

century,  126  (cut) ;  destroyed  by  Sixtus 

V.,  15. 

Serapaion  at  Alexandria,  183,  185. 
I  Serena,  Princess,  takes  a  necklace  from 

the  statue  of  Vesta,   176 ;   her  death, 

177. 

Servants  of  a  great  household,  128. 
Servius  Maurus  quoted,  127,  147- 
Servius  Sulpicius,  statue  of,  and  privileges 

of  his  descendants,  81. 
Servius  Tullius,  38,  78 ;  Agger  of,  65, 302. 
Servus  preelncens,  207. 
Setinian  wine,  240. 
Severina,  Campia,  Vestal,  141. 
Severus,  engineer  of  Nero,  122,  240. 


326 


INDEX. 


Severus  Alexander,  Emperor,  91,  245 ; 
baths  of,  157 ;  portico  of,  97 ;  shrine 
dedicated  to,  150. 

Sewers,  53 ;  defects  of,  56. 

Ships,  speed  of,  245 ;  represented  on  a 
bas-relief,  247;  unloading  of,  252;  a 
wreck  discovered  off  Astura,  253. 

Sibylline  books,  69 ;  deposited  by  Augus- 
tus in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  115 ;  their 
subsequent  fate,  115. 

Sick,  taken  to  the  temple  of  ^Esculapius, 
70 ;  exposure  in  the  streets,  71. 

Sidonius,  C.  Sollius  Apollinaris,  quoted, 
44. 

Signorili,  Nicola,  reputed  author  of  a  col- 
lection of  inscriptions,  7. 

Silva  Gallinaria,  infested  by  highwaymen, 
211. 

Simbruine  mountains,  60,  274. 

Simpuvium  Numse,  44. 

Siphon,  principle  of,  known  to  the  Ro- 
mans, 59. 

Sisto,  Ponte,  257. 

Sixtine  chapel,  157. 

Sixtus  IV.,  Pope,  285;  founder  of  the 
Capitoline  museum,  22 ;  his  extrava- 
gance, 22  ;  towers  of,  215. 

Sixtus  V.,  Pope,  15. 

Slaves  as  physicians,  71. 

Socrates,  the  historian,  quoted,  174. 

Sol  Helagabalus,  127. 

Solarium,  82. 

Sosii,  agents  for  the  sale  of  Horace's 
works,  183. 

Sossia,  139. 

Sossianus,  Macrinius,  high-priest,  170. 

Sparteoli,  nickname  for  the  police,  224. 

Speusippos,  182. 

Spurinna,  91. 

Statilian  family,  columbaria  of  the  ser- 
vants of,  130. 

Stationes  for  the  police,  224. 

Statius  quoted,  59. 

Statues,  in  the  forum,  81 ;  in  the  forum 
of  Augustus,  85 ;  in  the  forum  of  Do- 
mitian,  85 ;  those  in  honor  of  Augustus 
melted  by  his  direction,  115  ;  found  in 
a  lararium,  192 ;  those  of  authors,  set 
up  in  libraries,  196 ;  in  the  barracks  of 
the  first  battalion  of  police,  225 ;  a  pure 
Greek  statue  in  the  Benedictine  abbey 
of  Sacro-Speco,  274 ;  dedicated  to  new 
personages  by  changing  the  heads,  289 ; 
removed  from  temples  after  the  aboli- 
tion of  pagan  worship,  290 ;  a  Count 
appointed  to  care  for  them  in  500  A.  D. , 
292 ;  those  we  now  possess  have  been 
preserved  by  concealment,  296.  —  Of 
Alcibiades,  81 ;  found  in  the  Tiber  in 
1885,  258,  307;  Antonius  Musa,  72; 
Apollo  in  his  chariot,  1 14 ;  Apollo  with 
Latona  and  Diana,  114 ;  Apoxyomenos 


of  Lysippus,  296;  athletes  found  in 
1885  on  the  Quirinal,  298,  303,  305 
(cut),  frontispiece;  Atta  Navius,  81; 
Augustus,  colossal,  112 ;  Bacchus,  308 
(heliotype)  ;  boxer,  discovered  in  1885, 
303, 305  (cut),  frontispiece ;  boy  extract- 
ing a  thorn  from  his  foot,  22 ;  Brutus, 
22 ;  Cajlia  Concordia,  Vestal,  169 ;  Ca- 
millus,  22;  Charles  d'Anjou,  22;  Cy- 
bele,  127 ;  Danaids,  111 ;  Flavia  Publi- 
cia,  Vestal,  141 ;  Gallienus  (proposed), 
97 ;  Giulia  Farnese,  10 ;  Hercules,  22, 
111,  153,  287,  288  (cut),  290,  297; 
Hermaphrodite,  18;  Hippolytus,  196; 
Horatius  Codes,  81 ;  Jonah,  156 ;  Julius 
Caesar,  84 ;  lion  devouring  a  horse,  22  ; 
lion  in  the  forum,  81 ;  Marcus  Aurelius, 
12,  21,  156,  286 ;  Marsyas,  81 ;  Mithras 
Tauroktonos,  193  ;  Nero,  colossal,  113 ; 
Pyrrhus  (so  called),  85;  Pythagoras, 
81 ;  Q.  Marcius  Tremulus,  81 ;  Servius 
Sulpicius,  81 ;  She-wolf,  21  (cut),  285 ; 
Tatius,  81 ;  Venus  Genetrix,  by  Arcesi- 
laos,  84 ;  Victory,  163. 

Stefano  (S.)  delle  Carozze,  church  of,  24. 

Stipes  sacrae,  46. 

Stone  knives,  used  at  the  ceremony  of 
making  a  peace,  46 ;  found  in  the 
springs  of  Vicarello,  47. 

Strabo  quoted,  54,  179,  210. 

Street-lighting  unknown,  207. 

Street  pedlers,  269. 

Streets,  insecurity  of,  at  night,  207,  212 ; 
accidents  frequent,  213 ;  crowding  of, 
269 ;  choked  by  shops,  270 ;  Alta  Se- 
mita,  144;  Insteia,  or  Insteiana,  50; 
Vesta,  150;  Vicus  Apollinis,  110;  Lon- 
gus,  52,  144;  Tuscus,  82.  See  also 
under  Via. 

Streets  (modern),  Carlo  -  Alberto,  65; 
Goito,  145 ;  Marf  orio,  86 ;  Mazzini,  65 ; 
Merulana,  169 ;  Porta  S.  Lorenzo,  216 ; 
S.  Giuseppe  a  Capo  le  Case,  100 ;  delle 
Sette  Sale,  169;  dello  Statuto,  192; 
Vicolo  delle  Palme,  296. 

Strozzi,  Uberto,  garden  of,  227. 

Sturgeon,  233. 

Subiaco,  60,  274. 

Sublician  bridge,  built  of  wood,  and  no 
iron  used  even  in  repairs,  40 ;  remains, 
41  (cut). 

Subrostrani,  82. 

Subura,  82,  270. 

Suetonius  quoted,  45,  84,  91,  125,  138. 

Sulla,  140,  242 ;  his  library,  179,  180. 

Sulphur  springs  at  Vicarello,  46 ;  near 
the  Janus  Quadrif  rons,  50. 

Sulphurata,  269. 

Sun,  temple  of,  156,  241  (cut),  298,  300, 
302  (cut). 

Sun-dials  and  clepsydrae  in  the  library 
of  Cassiodorius,  198. 


INDEX. 


327 


Sura,  Liciuius,  baths  of,  157. 
Sylvanus,  altar  to,  100. 
Symmachus,  physician,  72. 
Symmachus,  Pope,  -^'<. 
Syimnachus,  Q.  Aurelius,  163. 
Symphorus  tesserarius,  120. 

Tablinum,  or  reception  hall  of  the  Ves- 
tals, 161. 

Tabula  Valeria,  82. 

Tacitus  quoted,  59,  113,  136,  216. 

Tacitus,  Emperor,  91. 

Tambroni  on  the  remains  discovered  in 
the  Pascolare  di  Castello,  30. 

Tarquinius  Priscus,  76. 

Tarquinius  Superbus,  53,  78. 

Tatius,  statue  of,  81. 

Taurobolium,  167. 

Taurus,  Statilius,  132. 

Teatro  Drammatico,  its  building  leads  to 
important  discoveries  in  1885,  297,  302. 

Telephus,  his  Notitia  librorum,  178. 

TeUene,  50. 

Temples,  /Esculapius.  69 ;  Antoninus  and 
Faustina,  155;  Apollo,  69,  114,  115; 
Augustus,  155;  Bona  Dea,  on  Monte 
Affliano,  62;  Castor  and  Pollux,  80, 
150,  155,  156;  Ceres,  at  Ostia,  34; 
Concord,  77 ;  the  Fever,  52 ;  Great 
Mother  of  the  Gods,  or  Cybele,  127 ; 
Health,  69 ;  Hercules,  95,  288 ;  Janus 
Quadrif  rons,  77 ;  Julius  Caesar,  155 ; 
Jupiter  Capitolinus,  140, 157,  158,  292 ; 
Jupiter  Dolichenus,  226 ;  Mars,  84 ; 
Minerva,  15 ;  Minerva  Medica,  102 ; 
Neptune,  157;  Romulus,  son  of  Max- 
out  ins.  155  ;  Saturn,  77 ;  the  Sun,  156, 
241  (cut),  298,  300,  302  (cut) ;  Trajan, 
88,  241;  Venus  Genetrix,  84;  Venus 
and  Rome,  294;  Vesta,  75,  155,  159, 
(cut),  160  (cut);  Victory,  127;  at  the 
corner  of  the  street  of  Vesta,  150. 

Terra-cotta,  portraits  in,  in  libraries,  196. 

Tesserae,  use  in  unloading  vessels,  252. 

Testaccio,  Monte,  248,  250  (cut). 

Testaccio,  Prati  di,  248. 

Tetrastylum,  banqueting-hall  of  the  Ar- 
vales  Fratres,  153. 

Theatre,  of  Marcellus,  309;  Pompey's, 
190. 

Theodosius  I.,  Emperor,  163;  defeats 
the  pagan  party  in  394,  174. 

Theodosius  II.,  Emperor,  163. 

Theophrastus,  disciple  of  Aristotle,  his 
library,  179. 

Thermae.     See  Baths. 

Thieves,  82. 

Tiber,  ex-votos  discovered  under  the  left 
embankment  in  1885,  70;  archeology 
of,  231  ;  bibliography  of,  231 ;  source 
of  the  river,  231 ;  description  of  its 
mouth,  231 ;  wholesomeness  of  its  wa- 


ter, 57,  232 ;  its  constant  level,  233 ; 
its  fish,  233 ;  inundations  of,  234 ;  ex- 
tensive deposits  of  sand  at  the  month, 
234 ;  enlargement  of  the  island  belong- 
ing to  the  Marvin's.-  Guglielmi,  235; 
navigation  of  the  river  between  Ostia 
and  Rome,  236,  237;  property  along 
the  banks  protected  by  special  police, 
236 ;  treasures  supposed  to  be  buried 
in,  255 ;  discoveries  before  1875  scanty, 
255 ;  quicksands  of  the  bed  of  the 
river  swallow  up  a  freight  train,  255 ; 
very  abundant  antiquities  probably 
preserved  at  a  slight  depth,  256 ;  regu- 
lar .explorations  carried  on  twice  over 
a  small  area,  257 ;  survey  of  the  banks 
under  Vespasian,  257  ;  the  Jews  desire 
to  excavate  its  bed,  291 ;  embankment 
of,  308. 

Tiberius,  Emperor,  210,  217;  added  to 
the  imperial  palace,  108 ;  ruins  of  pal- 
ace of,  108  (heliotype) ;  establishes  a 
library,  184,  186;  decree  against  kiss- 
ing, 271. 

Tibnrtina,  Porta,  293. 

Timotheus,  sculptor,  114 

Timotheus,  Julius,  schoolmaster,  mur- 
dered by  brigands,  212. 

Titus,  Emperor,  125;  arch  of,  12,  203; 
baths  of,  13,  125. 

Tivoli,  157. 

Toilet,  officers  of,  131. 

Toll  collectors  on  the  consular  roads,  210. 

Tombs,  archaic,  no  iron  in,  39 ;  found 
intact  under  the  gardens  of  Liciuius 
Gallienns,  103 ;  on  the  road  to  Albano, 
excavated  by  De  Rossi,  278;  family 
tombs,  built  on  the  family  estate,  280 : 
large  numbers  scattered  over  the  Cam- 
pagna,  281 ;  of  Minicia  Marcella,  281. 

Tongilianus,  220. 

Tonstrix,  133. 

Topiarius,  272. 

Tor  Carbone,  farm  of,  268. 

Torlonia  museum,  252. 

Torlonia,  Prince  Alex.,  his  excavations, 
246. 

Torre  del  Filosofo,  275. 

Torre  Fiscale,  277  (cut). 

Torre  di  Mesa,  301,  302  (cut). 

Torre  S.  Michele,  235. 

Totila,  293. 

Tow-paths  along  the  banks  of  the  Tiber, 
236. 

Toys  inscribed  with  the  names  of  horses 
and  jockeys,  216. 

Trajan,  Emperor,  244 ;  meeting  with  the 
poor  widow,  described  by  Dante,  2  ;  the 
national  hero  and  saint  of  the  Rouma- 
nians, 4  ;  cuts  away  the  ridge  between 
the  Capitoline  and  Quirinal  hills,  86 ; 
refuses  permission  to  form  a  fire  com- 


328 


INDEX 


pany,  221  ;  his  hydraulic  enterprises, 
240 ;  victory  over  Decebalus,  291 . 

Trajan,  arch  of,  87 ;  arch  on  the  pier  of 
the  harbor  of  Aucona,  248 ;  column  of, 
5,  87,  88  (cut),  295 ;  forum  of,  85,  88 
(cut),  184;  harbor  of,  at  Ostia,  240, 
245  ;  hunting-lodge  in  the  Apennines, 
275;  library  of,  184;  temple  of,  88, 
241. 

Trajano,  Lago,  246. 

Trastevere,  153  ;  the  abode  of  street  ped- 
lers,  270 ;  antiquities'discovered  in,  296. 

Traversari,  Ambrogio,  20. 

Trees  and  shrubs.  273 ;  in  the  forum,  81. 

Tremulus,  Q.  Marcius,  statue  of,  81. 

Tripods  in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  115. 

Triumphal  arch,  remains  of,  256  (cut). 

Triumviri  capitales,  221  ;   nocturni,  221. 

Troops,  regular,  excluded  from  Rome, 
208. 

Tryphon,  publisher  for  Quintilianus,  183. 

Tullus  Hostilius.  76. 

Tunnels,  61  ;  at  Saldns  in  Algeria,  61 ; 
of  Monte  Affliano,  62. 

Turris  Cartularia,  203  (cut),  205. 

Tyrannic,  librarian  of  Cicero,  180. 

Uffizi  gallery,  Florence,  14 ;  architectural 

sketches  by  cinquecento  artists,  24. 
Umbilicus  Roma?,  266. 
Untrix,  132. 

Urania  Aurelia,  tombstone  of,  175. 
Uterina,  goddess,  69. 
Utrecht,  public  library,  7. 

Vacca,  Flaminius,  antiquary,  quoted,  110, 
111. 

Valentinian  II.,  Emperor,  163 ;  enforces 
the  edict  against  paganism,  173,  289 ; 
murdered,  173. 

Valentinian  and  Valens,  arch  of,  257. 

Valeriamis,  Julius,  212. 

Valerii.  their  villas.  264. 

Valle,  Piero  della,  palace  of,  156. 

Varro,  M.  Terentins,  quoted,  40, 178,  184. 

Vasari,  Giorgio,  quoted,  10,  18. 

Vatican  gardens,  the  Casino  del  Ligorio, 
279  (cut).  —  Library,  195  (cut);  cata- 
logue of,  by  the  Assemani,  197  ;  hope 
that  it  contained  the  Regesta  Pontificum 
disappointed,  204.  —  Museum,  29,  286, 
296,  297 ;  the  Pine  Cone  and  Peacocks 
in,  286  (cut). 

Veii,  64,  148. 

Velabrum,  75,  108. 

Velia,  82. 

Venezia,  palazzo  di,  the  collection  of 
Paul  II.,  14  ;  its  architecture,  16. 

Venus  Genetrix,  temple  of,  84. 

Venus  and  Rome,  temple  of,  294. 

Verminus,  altar  to,  52  (cut). 

Verus,  Ulpius,  141. 


Vespasian,  Emperor,   6,    125,    140,  257; 

additions  to  the  imperial  palace,  125 ; 

forum  of,  85  ;  library  of,  184. 
Vespignani,  excavations  in  the  Palace  of 

the  Caesars,  110. 
Vesta,  shrine  of,  115 ;  restored  by  Severus 

Alexander,  159.  —  Temple  of,  75,  155, 

159  (cut) ;  capital  from,  160  (cut) ;  its 
shape  and  appearance  represented  by 
the  hut-urns,  136.  —  Worship  of  Vesta, 
its  origin,  135  ;  established  in  Rome  by 
Alban  shepherds,  136.  —Street  of,  150. 

Vestales  pontifices,  168. 

Vestals,  qualifications  of,  136 ;  shown  on 
a  medallion  of  Julia  Domna,  137  (cut) ; 
portrait  of  a  Vestalis  Maxima,  138  (he- 
liotype) ;  inauguration,  137;  term  of 
service,  137;  wealth,  138;  privileges, 
138  ;  seats  of  honor  reserved  for,  139  ; 
right  of  driving  in  the  streets,  139; 
owned  a  stable,  139 ;  duties  at  state 
ceremonies,  140  ;  secrets  and  documents 
entrusted  to  them,  140 ;  intercession 
in  behalf  of  criminals,  140  ;  right  of  in- 
terment within  the  city,  141 ;  only  one 
tombstone  has  been  found,  142 ;  du- 
ties and  obligations,  142 ;  precautions 
against  wrong-doing,  142 ;  trial  and 
execution  of,  143 ;  situation  of  the 
crypt  in  which  they  were  immured, 
145 ;  sacred  relics  preserved  by,  147 ; 
buried  by  them  when  the  Gauls  stormed 
Rome,  148 ;  probably  destroyed  the 
shrine  themselves,  150 ;  last  days  of, 
162,  168;  statue  raised  to  an  abbess, 
from  which  the  name  has  been  erased, 
170  ;  possible  conversion  of  a  Vestal  to 
Christianity,  171  ;  their  house  at  Alba- 
num,  171  ;  the  secession  of  an  abbess 
referred  to  by  Symmachus,  172 ;  final 
suppression  by  Theodosius  I.,  175  ;  de- 
stroyed the  penetralia  of  the  temple, 
175. 

Vestals,  house  of,  discovery  in  1883-84, 

134  ;  plan  of,  158  (cut) ;  view  looking 
east,  134  (heliotype);  view  looking  west, 

160  (heliotype)  ;    special    interest    of, 

135  ;  burned  in  191  A.  D.,  147  ;  violated 
by  Helagabalus,   148 ;  the  foundations 
only  of  the  shrine  discovered,  149  (cut)  ; 
plan  and  description,   150,  158;  unin- 
jured on  the  suppression  of  the  order, 
176. 

Vestiplici,  131. 

Via  Appia,  130,  264,  266,  268 ;  Campana, 
42,  212;  Clodia,  268;  Flaminia,  157, 
268,  272;  Labicana,  226;  Lata,  166; 
Latina,  264,  277 ;  Nomentana,  13,  153, 
267;  Nova,  150;  Praenestina,  268; 
Sacra,  82,  110,  150. 

Vibidia,  a  Vestal,  140. 

Vicarello,  Sorgenti  di  (mineral  springs), 


INDEX. 


329 


rich  store  of  antiquities  found  here  in 
1852,  46. 

Victor,  Sex.  Anrelius,  quoted,  54,  249. 

Victor  Augentius,  Aurelius,  senator,  167. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  King,  excavations  at 
Castel  Porziano,  243. 

Victor  Olympius,  Nonius,  senator,  167. 

Victory,  temple  of,  127 ;  statue  of,  quar- 
rel concerning,  between  Christians  and 
pagans,  163. 

Vigiles.     See  Police. 

Villa  Publica,  96. 

Villas,  ancient,  general  plan,  263 ;  wealthy 
families  owned  several  villas,  264,  265 ; 
their  use,  265 ;  their  number,  266 ; 
shrines,  266 ;  journey  of  a  patrician 
family  to  their  villa,  269 ;  two  distinct 
and  independent  portions  of  an  ancient 
villa,  271 ;  decay  and  destruction,  276 ; 
devastated  by  the  Goths  and  Vandals, 
277  ;  frequency  of  family  crypts  and 
mausoleums,  281.  — Of  Clodius,  280; 
of  Domitian,  279 ;  of  Hadrian,  263 
(cut),  271  (cut) ;  Hadrian's  supposed 
palace  on  Mt.  Etna,  275 ;  of  Livia,  272 ; 
of  Nero,  in  the  Apennines,  274  ;  of 
Pompey,  280 ;  of  Quintilius  Condianus 
and  brother,  264 ;  Trajan's  hunting- 
lodge  in  the  Apennines,  275 ;  of  the 
Valerii  and  other  families,  264. 

Villius,  P.,  triumvir  nocturnus,  221. 

Violets,  273. 

Vipsania,  portions,  95,  98. 

Virgil  quoted,  232,  260. 

Virginius,  80. 

Visconti,  Aless.,  on  the  remains  discovered 
in  the  vicinity  of  Alba  Longa,  29. 

Vitalianus,  Pop'e,  294. 


Vitellius,  Emperor,  140,  214. 

Vitiges,  158,  293. 

Vito  (S.),  church  of,  152. 

Vitruvius  on  the  construction  of  libraries, 

181. 

Vivarium,  monastery  of,  its  library,  198. 
Volcanic  action  in  early  times,  references 

to,  in  Livy,  32 ;  religious  ceremony  to 

be  performed  on  occasion  of,  32. 
Volscian  district,  originally  healthy,  50. 
Vol terra,  Daniele  da.  il  Braghettone,  10. 
Vopiscus  quoted,  91,  111,  301. 
Vortumnus,  shrine  of,  155. 
Votive  offerings,  found  in  the  springs  at 

Vicarello,  46 ;  in  the  Tiber,  70. 

Warehouses,  248. 

Water  supply,  in  the  fifth  century,  57; 
under  the  Empire,  58  ;  in  the  country, 
269  ;  domestic  supply,  supervised  by 
the  prsefectus  vigilum,  223 ;  how  dis- 
tributed to  private  houses,  299. 

Window-gardening,  273. 

Windows,  protected  by  railings,  208. 

Wine,  Csecubus  and  Setinian,  240. 

Wine-sellers'  shops,  270. 

Wolf  in  the  Lateran  museum,  21  (cut), 
285. 

Wool-carding  practised  by  the  women, 
133. 

Writing  utensils,  181  (cut). 

Zacharias.  Bishop  of  Mytilene,  quoted, 

284. 

Zenobia,  Queen,  300 ;  bath-house  of,  157. 
Zingara,  statue  of  (so  called),  22. 
Zosiiuus  quoted,  50,  176. 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


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